SECRETARY'S REPORT. 81 



The germ or chit is nourished, after the sprouting lias com- 

 menced, by the starch, sugar, &c., contained in the other parts 

 of the grain, until its roots have so far extended as to secure 

 nourishment from the soil, and the blade shoots up to obtain 

 its nutrition from the air. But if the weather is too cold after 

 the seed is planted, or if the soil is too wet and cold, the main 

 body of the seed or grain is dissolved and rots, so that when 

 the soil and weather become sufficiently warm, the chit may 

 still germinate, but it will find no nutriment in store, when it 

 will wither and die. In such cases the corn must be replanted. 

 The conditions of germination, as already suggested, are heat, 

 moisture, air, and absence of light. 



It is plain, therefore, that in a loose, porous, or sandy soil, 

 the seed may be planted deeper than in a stiff soil, where a 

 shallow planting will best secure these conditions of germination. 



In the process of growth, the plant takes its food from the 

 air in part, and in part from the soil in solution in water. 

 Corn is said to require the largest proportion of inorganic 

 matter for its thrifty growth about ten or twelve days after it 

 has made its appearance above ground, though not, of course, 

 so large an actual amount as during the subsequent periods of 

 its growth. This amount, doubtless, increases up to the time 

 of ripening. This inorganic matter, taken up by the plant in 

 growth, comes from the soil. It has been estimated that an 

 average acre of the small white flint corn requires and abstracts 

 from the soil no less than 881 pounds of these inorganic sub- 

 stances, of which about 210 pounds are in the form of silica 

 or silicic acid, 91 pounds in the form of phosphate of lime, iron 

 and magnesia, 64 pounds of potash, 63 pounds of soda, 15 

 pounds of lime, 9 pounds of magnesia, 19 pounds of chlorine, 

 and 30 pounds of sulphuric acid. Most of the other parts of 

 the crop, the organic or combustible matter, are derived from the 

 atmosphere, though some part of it is also derived from the 

 soil. 



The crop of white flint corn, on which the estimate stated 

 above was made, took 22,546 pounds of organic matter, con- 

 sisting of 2,900 pounds of sugar and extract, 5,100 pounds of 

 starch found in the kernel, 15 pounds of rosin found in the 

 cob, 10 pounds of dextrine, 312 pounds of oil, also found in 

 the kernel, 1,150 pounds of fibre, 817 pounds of albumen, 396 

 11* 



