18 VoELCKER on the Scouring Lands 



Amongst other particulars I find : 



1. That the proportion of ash and of nitrogen in unripe tur- 

 nips, mangolds, grass, young shoots of plants, &c., is very much 

 larger than in ripe and sound roots, &c. A large proportion of 

 ash, and especially of nitrogen, indeed, is an excellent indication 

 of the unripe and unwholesome condition of turnips, mangolds, 

 and vegetable produce in general. To mention only a few 

 examples : whilst unripe mangolds, according to the stage in 

 which they are examined, contain as much as 2^ to 3 per cent, 

 of nitrogen in a dry state, when fully ripe they contain only 

 1J to 1J per cent, of nitrogen. In turnips dried at 212 Fahr. 

 I find the proportion of nitrogen in roots at an early stage as high 

 as 3 ; examined later in the season, the proportion of nitrogen 

 gradually dwindles down exactly in the measure in which they 

 get more ripe, and reaches a minimum when they are perfectly 

 mature. 



2. In quickly-grown rank grass from irrigated meadows I find 

 a larger proportion of nitrogen and mineral matters than in good 

 sweet meadow-grass. I need hardly say that the latter is infi- 

 nitely superior to the former in nutritive value. 



3. In turnip-tops and mangold-leaves the proportion of mineral 

 matters and nitrogen is nearly double that contained in the ripe 

 roots, which, of course, are more nutritious than the tops. 



4. In unripe roots, grass, leaves, &c., in which a high per- 

 centage of nitrogen occurs, I find, comparatively speaking, little 

 sugar, and a considerable quantity of various vegetable acids, 

 such as tartaric, oxalic, malic, and tannic acids. 



These are some of the principal results which have a direct 

 bearing on the subject under discussion. We thus see that a 

 high percentage of ash and nitrogen in roots, &c., indicates an 

 immature condition, and is always accompanied by a compara- 

 tively small quantity of sugar, and by a large proportion of 

 various vegetable acids. Most of these acids, either in a free 

 state or in their combinations with mineral matters, especially 

 with potash or soda, have a decidedly aperient effect ; hence we 

 can account for the scouring effects of unripe mangolds, turnip- 

 tops, mangold-leaves, young unripe clover, Italian rye-grass 

 forced with too much liquid manure, and grass from water- 

 meadows at certain seasons of the year. 



The herbage from scouring pastures is unwholesome for the 

 same reason for which unripe mangolds, turnips, and forced grass 

 are injurious to cattle. My investigations show that the hay 



