194 ADVANTAGES OF EMPLOYING VEGETABLE MATTER 



which I hoped to obtain new varieties of the plum ; but only one of the 

 blossoms, upon which I had operated, escaped the excessive severity of 

 the frost in the spring. The seed, which this afforded, having been 

 preserved in mould during the winter, was, in March, placed in a small 

 garden-pot, which was nearly filled with the living leaves and roots of 

 grasses, mixed with a small quantity of earth ; and this was sufficiently 

 covered with a layer of mould, which contained the roots only of grasses, 

 to prevent, in a great measure, the growth of the plants which were 

 buried. The pot, which contained about one-sixteenth of a square foot 

 of mould and living vegetable matter, was placed under glass, but without 

 artificial heat, and the plant appeared above the soil in the end of April. 

 It was three times, during the summer, removed into a larger pot, and 

 each time supplied with the same matter to feed upon ; and in the end 

 of October its roots occupied about the space of one-third of a square 

 foot, its height above the surface of the mould being then nine feet 

 seven inches. 



In the beginning of June, a small piece of ground was planted with 

 potatoes of an early variety, and in some rows green fern, and in others 

 nettles, were employed instead of other manure ; and, subsequently, as 

 the early potatoes were taken up for use, their tops were buried in rows 

 in the same manner, and potatoes of the preceding year were placed 

 upon them, and covered in the usual way. The days being then long, 

 the ground warm, and the decomposing green leaves and stems affording 

 abundant moisture, the plants acquired their full growth in an unusually 

 short time, and afforded an abundant produce ; and the remaining part 

 of the summer proved more than sufficient to mature potatoes of an early 

 variety. The market-gardener may, probably, employ the tops of his 

 early potatoes, and other green vegetable substances, in this way, with 

 much advantage, 



In these experiments, the plum-stone was placed to vegetate in the 

 turf of the alluvial soil of a meadow, and the potatoes grew in ground 

 which, though not rich, was not poor ; and, therefore, some objections 

 may be made to the conclusions I am disposed to draw in favour of recent 

 vegetable substances, as manures. The following experiment is, however, 

 I think, decisive. 



I received, from a neighbouring farmer, a field naturally barren, and 

 so much exhausted by ill management, that the two preceding crops had 

 not returned a quantity of corn equal to that which had been sowed upon 

 it. An adjoining plantation afforded me a large quantity of fern, which 

 I proposed to employ as manure for a crop of turnips. This was cut 



