70 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[May, 



fact that they raise quite as good crops as 

 those who follow his plan, is not the inference 

 pretty strong that the latter are probably 

 laboring under a delusion ? If, however, J. G. 

 can show by a series of carefully conducted 

 experiments, by himself or others, extending 

 over a considerable space of time, that the 

 signs or chances of the moon have the effect 

 attributed to them, or any sensible effect on the 

 crops, then we will have to admit that he is 

 justified in his belief. Until that is done, it 

 cannot be expected that intelligent agricul- 

 turists will generally adopt this theory. 



J. Gr. correctly supposes that none of us 

 know much about the invisible operations of 

 nature or hmn a seed germinates and grows. 

 "We do know, however, something of the con- 

 ditions indispensable to growth and germina- 

 tion. We know that it requires a certain de- 

 gree of warmth and moisture. Plant a grain 

 of corn in perfectly dry earth, or where the 

 ground is and remains of a temperature be- 

 low freezing, and it will not germinate till 

 doomsday, no matter what the sign of the 

 moon. On the contrary give it warmth and 

 moisture, and it will as surely germinate and 

 grow up out of the ground, be the moon's sign 

 what it may. 



Now, it sometimes happens in planting 

 seeds, in actual practice, the ground is so dry, 

 or so cold, that the seed placed in it will re- 

 main for a week or more with no more change 

 or approach to germination than if it had 

 been left in the bag or the granary. But 

 while the seed has lain there in the ground, 

 perfectly dormant, the sign which was right 

 when it was planted has changed, and when 

 it begins to germinate the sign is wrong. 

 Does J. G. conceive, in that case, that the 

 seed planted after the sign had thus changed 

 would be less likely to produce abundantly 

 than the one planted a week before ? If he 

 admits that the result would be the same he 

 will then have to acknowledge that knowing 

 the right sign is of very uncertain practical 

 use, as the sign may be different at the time 

 of germinating from what it was at the time 

 of planting. 



It is claimed, however, that the weather is 

 affected or governed by the moon's changes, 

 and of course whatever affects the weather, 

 indirectly if not directly, affects the crops. 

 But is there sufficient evidence that the 

 changes or changing signs of the moon have 

 any effect upon the weather ? Dr. Lardner, 

 the celebrated English scientist, who delivered 

 a number of lectures on various scientific 

 subjects, some thirty years ago, asserts that 

 complete registers of the weather at many 

 different points throughout Europe had been 

 kept for fifty to a hundred years, the times of 

 lunar changes also being kept, so that the one 

 can be compared with the other. " The result 

 of such an examination," he says, "has been 

 that no correspondence whatever has been 

 found to exist between the two phenomena." 

 He further declares that abundant experi- 

 ments have proved that the notion that plants 

 and trees should be grafted or timber felled 

 in a particular sign or phase of the moon is 

 entirely without foundation ; and equally un- 

 founded, he says, is the notion that vegetables 

 whose roots are used as food should be planted 

 in the decrease of the moon, while those that 

 bear the fruit on the stalks and branches 

 should be planted during the increase of the 

 moon. These conclusions of Lardner, he 

 aflBrms, have been established by many long- 

 continued and careful experiments by compe- 

 tent observers. Can J. G. bring forward any 

 record of experiments in corroboration of the 

 contrary opinion he holds ? 



The mere fact that our "fathers and grand- 

 fathers " held certain opinions is not sufficient 

 ground for us believing they are true, or else 

 a great many of us would discard the demon- 

 strations of modern astronomy and believe 

 that the earth is flat instead of round, and 

 that the sun daily moves round it to produce 

 day and night. 



The tides of the ocean are referred to as 

 showing the effect the moon may have upon 

 matter on the earth's surface, If J. G, could 



show that any effect similar to the rise and 

 fall of the tides is produced in our lakes and 

 ponds and mill-dams, it would be more con- 

 vincing. As this cannot be shown, and as 

 the periodical times of the rising and falling 

 of the tides, (twice in twenty -four hours) have 

 no correspondence whatever with the times of 

 the changes of the signs from "ascension " to 

 "descension" (twice in twenty-seven to 

 twenty-eight days) it can hardly be claimed 

 that the moon's influence in the matter of 

 the tides lends any weighty confirmation to 

 the theory we have been examining. — Ama- 

 teur Farmer. 



For The Lancaster Farmer. 

 THE INDIAN TURNIP. 



Every school boy knows the "Indian Tur- 

 nip," as one mischievous lad will often excite 

 the ciuriosity of many to take a bite or chew a 

 bit, and then enjoy the fun to see them spit it 

 out and scrape their tongue as if beset by 

 pricking nettles. This pungency is quite 

 sharp for a brief period in the fresh root, 

 which is called a corm ; it is not a bulb nor 

 onion. Although shaped like a turnip, it 

 differs in its structure. 



"We have two species, very commonly met 

 with in moist, rich woods. I find the old name, 



Arum, for this genus, is now the [Arisc^ma, of 

 Martius) the A. tripyllum, so called by having 

 the leaves divided into three eliptical ovate 

 pointed leaflets ; this is the common "Indian 

 turnip." What we term the flower, and 

 usually composed of a corolla or colored calyx, 

 is in this case called a "spathe," which is 

 simply a large bract or modifled leaf envelop- 

 ing a fleshy spike of one or two kinds of small 

 flowers, forming red berries in fruit, called a 

 spadix, and is also known as "Jack in the 

 pulpit." The other species is known as Ihe 

 "Green Dragon," " Dragon-root," and is the 

 A. Dracontium. The leaf is mostly solitary, 

 pedately branched, divided into 7-11 leaflets ; 

 the spadix more slender and pointed ; the 

 spathe greenish, rolled in a tube, with a short, 

 erect point. These belong to an extensive 

 family. Under "Arum," Lond and Johnson 

 describe thirty-four species out of forty-five 

 known; the garden or cultivated "C'alla- 

 diums," a closely allied genius, of which 

 twenty-eight stove evergreens and herbaceous 

 species are described out of thirty-seven by 

 Johnson. We frequently meet specimens of 

 our common Indian turnip, having beautiful 

 purple stripes on a white ground, quite orna- 

 mental and worthy a place among the calla- 

 diums, This species can bear the winters of 



Canada and the perpetual summer of Brazil. 

 When carefully examined it is found to be 

 one of our most singular vegetables. Its 

 erect scape, often spotted with purple, in- 

 vested at base by the petioles and their acute 

 sheaths ; and above bearing the acuminate 

 spathe, convoluted at its bottom, flattened 

 out and bent over at the top, like a hood, 

 either striped with green or purple ; some 

 plants are more or less barren. The fertile 

 plant has a roundish crowded germ, each 

 tipt with a stigma ; some have stamens below 

 the germ, (Monoecious). The germs grow 

 and form a large compact bunch of shining 

 scarlet berries ; these, later in the season, 

 always attract attention by the large, ver- 

 milion red-colored head peeping out. The 

 acrid property, which resides in this and 

 other species of Arum, appears to depend 

 upon a distinct vegetable principle in chemis- 

 try at present but little understood. It is 

 extremely volatile, and disappears almost en- 

 tirely by heat-drying or simple exposure to 

 the air. This, no doubt, like the edible 

 Arum, [colocasia esculcntum ot Schott), "Arum 

 colocasia" or Egyptian Arum, was extensively 

 used for food. No menstruum has yet been 

 found to retain the acrid principle in its 

 power— alcohol, vinegar, water, milk, etc. 

 It seems to consist of or escape in the form of 

 gas— in solution, distillation, &c. The acri- 

 mony of the Ranuwiuli, which approaches 

 that of the Arum, is lost by drying, yet is 

 soluble in water, and passes over with it in 

 distillation.* 



The acrimony of the Arum when fresh is 

 too powerful to render its internal exhibition 

 safe. The roots, when dried whole, retain a 

 small portion of their pungency, and in this 

 state they have been given by some practi- 

 tioners in this country for flatulence, cramp 

 in the stomach, &c.; also, for asthmatic 

 affections. As topical stimulants, they promise 

 to be useful when any method shall have been 

 discovered of fixing and preserving their 

 acrimony. 



The late Dr. Barton, of Philadelphia, ob- 

 serves that, "the recent root of this plant 

 boiled in milk, so as to communicate to the 

 milk a strong impregnation of the peculiar 

 acrimony of the plant, has been advantage- 

 ously employed in cases of consumption of the 

 lungs." Dr. Bigelow says : " This statement, 

 however, should be qualified by the recollec- 

 tion that the Arum imparts none of its acri- 

 mony to milk upon boiling." No doubt a 

 partial mixture of the root steeped in the milk 

 might answer the object in view. 



These corms contain a large proportion of 

 very pure white fecula, resembling the finest 

 arrow root or stai-ch. By simply reducing 

 them to a pulp while fresh, placed on a strainer 

 and pouring cold water repeatedly over it, 

 carrying the farinaceous part with it through 

 the strainer, leaving the fibrous portions be- 

 hind, it loses its acrimony, and when thor- 

 oughly dried forms a very white, delicate and 

 nutritive substance. Dr. McCall, of Georgia, 

 found these roots to yield one-fourth part of 

 their weight of pure amylaceous matter. 

 This is no rare occurrence of acrid roots, or 

 like the Carsava or bread-root tree of the 

 West Indies, the fresh juice of which is highly 

 poisonous. 



There seems to me a hint of a profitable 

 industry that might arise from the cultivation 

 and treatment of this singular product so 

 wholly neglected or overlooked among the 

 many other gifts of a benevolent Creator. 

 Kemember the "tomato." When I was a 

 boy I was cautioned against handling and 

 tasting it, as if it were the ' ' Apple of Sodom, ' ' 

 and sure death to eat. Well, we need educa- 

 tion and experience ; also, enterprise and ex- 

 periment. So my agricultural friends, as well 

 as gardeners, will please excuse me for so long 



*M. ch. Musset, a celebrated Dutch anatomiBt, gives a 

 highly luleresting account of an "Arum coloc .sia,'' that 

 distilled water from the ti[)8 of the leaves with some degree 

 of force, ejecting from 10 to 100 drops in a minute, in pro- 

 portion as the water was added to the root-stalb. Ruysch 

 also says of au Arum which he kept^in a green-house iuthe 

 Botanioal Garden, at Amsterdam, that the leaves trans- 

 pired very abundantly, distilling water drop by drop from 

 the extremities of its leaves. 



