22 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[ February, 



"Frost Plant of Russia," said to have 

 been introduced. This led to a reference to 

 the frost-worlj around the Cunila. I quoted 

 the opinion of Dr. Darlington, who says: "In 

 the begiuniug of winter, after a rain, very 

 curious ribbons of ice may be observed at- 

 tached to the base of the stems, produced, I 

 presume, by the moisture of the earth rising 

 in the dead stems by capillary attraction and 

 then being gradually forced out, horizontally, 

 through a slit, by the process of freezing. " In 

 my article I said : "Had the doctor given a 

 more extended investigation I fiiiicy he would 

 have agreed with me as to the cause ; I found 

 hundreds of diversified specimens. I am not 

 aware that it was just after a rain. I took up 

 a number of plants and always found a vigor- 

 ous, scaly, root-bud undergoing development, 

 at this early season, underground, to produce 

 a new stem the following year. I came to the 

 conclusion that, as the temperature was below 

 freezing and snow was on the ground, (by no 

 means necessary to produce the icy foruia- 

 tion,) I conceived the vigorous bud, in close 

 proximity to the surface, gave out sufficient 

 heat or warmth to generate vapor from the 

 moist soil. This vapor, rising around the 

 stem of the plant and attracted by it, becomes 

 congealed into a snow-like, pearly ice-work, 

 takmg various forms." I then quote Mr. Hun- 

 ter aud Lamarck, Hales and DuHamel, that 

 experiments go to sustain such an opinion. 



But my worthy friend. Prof. Jolm LeConte, 

 of the University of California, at Oakland, 

 California, thouglit it proper to let me know, 

 as well as the general public, that my article 

 called attention with reference to the ice 

 around the stems of Cunila Mariana. He 

 then shows that, " As long ago as 1850 it was 

 his privilege to call the attention of the scien- 

 tific world to an identical class of phenomena 

 in a paper entitled, 'Observations on a re- 

 markable exudation of ice from the stems of 

 vegetables, and on a singular protrusion of 

 icy columns from certain kinds of earth during 

 frosty weather.'" This paper was publislied 

 in the "Proceedings of the American Associa- 

 tion for the Advancement of Science," third 

 meeting, Charleston, S. C, March, 1850, (pp. 

 20-34,) and likewise in the "London, Edin- 

 burgh and Dublin Philosophical Magazine" for 

 May, 18.50, (third series. Vol. XXXVI., pp. 

 329-442). He then informs us that Sir John 

 r. W. Herschel published a short notice of a 

 similar exudation of icy fringes occurring 

 around thistle stalks and stumps of helio- 

 tropes, in the "London and Edinburgh Philo- 

 sophical Magazine " for February 1S33, (third 

 series, Vol. 11., p. 110,) besides the notices of 

 Prof. S. P. Rigand, March, 1833. and Prof. J. 

 D. Dana, 1849. In my reading I have not met 

 with any of those publications referred to. 

 and it seems by no means new or rare ; and 

 we may thank Prof. John LeConte for calling 

 our attention to his paper on this apparently 

 important topic. He says: " In the paper re- 

 ferred to will be found a full discussion of the 

 possible sources whence the large supply of 

 water is derived, which, by freezing, forms 

 the accumulations of icy fringes in the one 

 case and the icy columns in the other." He 

 continues: "Suffice it to state that I have 

 then shown that, in both oases, the phenomena 

 are purely physical., having in the case of 

 plants no connection with the vitality of the 

 stem; (the italics are mine, to note what he 

 says and how he says it ;) and that the ap- 

 pearances "are quite at variance with any 

 ■ idea of the deposition of these icy fringes from 

 the store of aqueous vapor— in the. general 

 atmosphere, in the manner of hoar-frost. 



Now, let us examine his illustration of the 

 ice ribbons on the old, dry stems of Plwhia, 

 the marsh flea-bane, he shows the sheets of ice 

 far above the soil, and coming out on two 

 sides of the stem. He says—" It is more 

 common and conspicuous in the Pluchia bifrons 

 than in P. camphorata.''^ Both plants grow 

 abundantly in wet soils, around jionds and 

 along the roadside ditches, in the low country 

 of Carolina and Georgia. We have his illus- 

 tration and description of the Pluchia. I 

 illustrate and draw conclusions from the facts 



and appearance of the Ditanij, a plant of the 

 mint family, and found in dry soils and in 

 shady, hilly woods in most parts of the United 

 States. Thus the two plants are different ; 

 nor do the ice ribbons come out through a 

 crack in the stem, so that Prof. Leconte's 

 description of the " ?nars/i ./?ea-6cme" and 

 tigure, differs from that witnessed in theDitany. 

 Not having met with'the Professor's elabor- 

 ated description which is to settle the matter 

 as to cause, I can only argue from the figure 

 he gives and the brief statement he makes. 

 It iuay be that plants like the pluchia growing 

 ill water, by capillary attraction in the pith of 

 the old, dry stem, may draw up the water, 

 and when frozen, split the stem. But in this 

 case it would be water, and formed into clear 

 ice. There is iiuite a dift'erence in the congela- 

 tion of vapor entangled with air, which gives it 

 the agglomerated appearance of snow crystals, 

 forming deposit upon deposit into thin sheets 

 of a beautiful pearly whiteness. Every one 

 knows that the breath of man and beast 

 causes these snowy crystals to be formed when 

 the temperature is sufiiiciently low. The moist, 

 warm air coming from our sewers or out- 

 houses, show beautiful festoons of such frost- 

 work, without involving the idea of " aqueous 

 vnpor in the general atmosphere,'^ in the manner 

 of hoar-frost, which the Professor flings out as 

 if it had a bearing on the question ; I also be- 

 lieve the phenomena purely physical. And as 

 all agree that the ice around the stems of the 

 Ditany arises from its very base and does not 

 touch the stem, no matter how dry or how old 

 or how hollow, I deny that the ribbons come 

 from the water in the" steins of the Cunila, as 

 shown by Leconte to arise from opposite sides 

 of the stem, some distance above the soil in 

 his illustration of the Pluchca, so that his 

 theory may answer the case witnessed by him; 

 and as Dr. Darlington was no doubt acquainted 

 with the Professor's explanation, did not stop 

 to see that the fact did not apply to the 

 Ditany The Doctor says clearly, "the very 

 curious ribbons of ice may often be observed 

 attached to the base of the stem;" he must 

 suppose that the slit is in the very junction of 

 tlie stem with tlie root, if any slit at all in the 

 stem. Prof. Leconte closes his notice by say- 

 ing in reference to my article, " The explana- 

 tion given by Dr. Darlington, in his Flora 

 Cestrica, in 1853" (as quoted by your corre- 

 pondent) that means myself, " is more in 

 accordance with known facts." Why not 

 add— as I have demonstrated in the Pluchia— 

 the maj-sh Flea-bane, where it was forced out 

 through the stem growing in wet ground, as 

 and so forth V How will such a theory ac- 

 count for a similar phenomenon in dry soil, 

 and not from slits in the old stem above the 

 soil, but from the soil itself around the base 

 of the stem ? 



It seems to me the Professor should have 

 considered this difference. He nor any one 

 else has yet shown that any one claims a 

 " connection with the vitality of the stem,'' 

 nor that the riblwns come from cracks in the 

 stems of cunila, and hence his strictures fall a 

 dead letter in tlie case of the latter. He does 

 not deny— of which any one can satisfy him- 

 self— that a vigorous underground bud is 

 found on the perennial root-stock of the pre- 

 ceding year ; that heat is developed in germi- 

 nation, that heat and moisture form vapor ; 

 that it would of necessity find escape directly 

 around the base of the stem, the cold atmos- 

 phere would condense this vapor, entangled 

 with the air at the base of the stem, and so 

 continue to add particles until it builds up a 

 funnel-like or egsj-shell-like icy ribbon, free 

 from the stem, as~those were seen by myself. 

 Major Spera and Dr. Darlington, according to 

 his statement. 



I shall be happy to read Professor John Lc 

 Conte's article whenever so fortunate ,as to 

 meet with it. I have written to several of my 

 friends for a copy, but failed to get an answer. 

 As the matter now stands, neither his ex- 

 planation or illustration, as given in the 

 Scientific American, has any weight to change 

 my view as to the cause ; nor will it require a 

 learned professor to form an opinion for him- 



self on 

 Stauffer. 



comparing facts as they exist.—/. 



For The Lancaster Fakmeb. 

 HALF-WAY PLOWING. 

 More than a year ago I was at a meeting of 

 the Agricultural Society in Lancaster. The 

 members were speaking about plowing for 

 corn. One of the members arose and said, if 

 we would only turn the sod edgways, we 

 would get more corn than we will if we turn 

 it down flat in the iurrow. He stated that he 

 once had a hillside, and he plowed it in lands 

 along the side of the hill. That which he 

 throwed against the hill the plow did not turn 

 over, just set it up edgways, and there he had 

 the best cora. It could be seen on every land. 

 That part which was throwed down the hill, 

 was never as good as that which was throwed 

 against the hill. I sat and listened, but said 

 nothing. 



Last summer I had an opportunity to ex- 

 periment in it myself. I had a steep hillside, 

 and I plowed it in lands along the side of the 

 hill. It was a clover field, and nothing else 

 but clover. When I throwed the furrow down 

 hill, every head of clover was covered, but 

 when I attempted to throw the furrow up 

 against the hill, some was turned over, some 

 stood edgways, and some rolled back into the 

 furrow from which it had been turned. 



As every farmer well knows, who has ever 

 plowed a hillside, all that was thrown against 

 the hill looked green, and all the cultivation 

 before corn-planting did not kill the clover, or 

 any other kind of weeds. Some one might 

 say I have no good cultivator. I wish he 

 would show me a better one than I have, to 

 kill clover or weeds in general. I planted the 

 corn, and after it was out I cultivated it 

 thoroughly, but the clover remained, and that 

 was not the worst of it. Some other grasses 

 and weeds were hidden under these clover 

 stalks, after all the cultivation ; and after 

 harvest I went through the field to pull up the 

 remaining grass and weeds by hand, which I 

 generally do. Where it was plowed down hill 

 I had not much trouble, but where it was 

 thrown up against the hill the labor was im- 

 mense, and the result was- contrary to what 

 the gentleman represented at the aforesaid 

 meeting. Good plowing is the foundation of 

 agricultural success ; if the foundation is not 

 good the whole building will be worthless. It 

 is as plain as A B C that good plowing and 

 well-turned-under sod or soil, is, by all odds, 

 the best. Just look back to our forefathers. 

 How did they plow ? Just as the gentleman 

 above stated that we should plow. And what 

 was the result of their plowing ? By the time 

 the corn was up for the cultivator, the fields 

 were blue with "blue grass" and weeds. 

 And what kind of corn crops did they get ? 

 Were they better than those realized at the 

 present day ? Every one knows. 



[Our correspondent's suggestions seem rea- 

 sonable and practicable. Without intending 

 to participate in the discussion, so far as it 

 relates to the cultivation of corn, the system 

 which he denominates " half-way plowing" is 

 the very one" which will facilitate the escape 

 of cut- worms and moths in the spring, which 

 are so injurious to the young corn. It has 

 been repeatedly recommended by the best 

 authorities, that the best— and perhaps the 

 only—way to destroy the Hessian flies, 

 while they are in the pupa or "flaxseed" 

 state, is to plow them deeply down, and turn- 

 ing well the furrow—" upside down," as it 

 ■ivere— and this would also be beneficial in the 

 case of cut- worms, or at least with those that 

 had pupated, as the moth could not penetrate 

 the deep soil,— Ed.] 



Harrowing Wheat. 

 I often hear about harrowing wheat fields, 

 and also read the same in agricultural papers; 

 and in The Lancaster Farmer a writer 

 says he harrowed a part of his wheat field in 

 the spring, and that part of the field soon was 

 ahead and higher than the part which was 

 not harrowed, and when harvest came he got 

 more wheat from the harrowed part than 



