160 UOW CKOl'S FEED. 



if it is reduced to a very fine dust and duly watered, even 

 the cereal gfains will grow and perfect fruit on it. 



Magnus {Jour, far prakt. Chem., L, 70) caused barley 

 to germinate in pure feldspar, Avhich was in one experi- 

 ment coarsely, in another finely, pulverized. In the coarse 

 feldspar the i)lants grew to a height of 15 inches, formed 

 ears, and one of them ripened two perfectly formed seeds. 

 In the fine feldspar the plants were very decidedly strong- 

 er. One of them attained a height of 20 i:iclics, and 

 produced four seeds. 



It is true, as a general rule, that all fertile soils contain 

 a large proportion of fine or impalpable matter. The soil 

 of the " rJee Ree Bottom," on the Scioto River, Ohio, re- 

 markable for its extraordinary fertility, which has remained 

 nearly undiminished for GO years, though yielding heavy 

 crops of wheat and maize without interruption, is char- 

 acterized by the fineness of its particles. (D. A. Wells, 

 Am. Jour. ScL, XIV, 11.) In what way the extreme di- 

 vision of the particles of the soil is connected with its fer- 

 tility is not difficult to understand. The food of the plant 

 as existing in the soil must pass into solution either in the 

 moisture of the soil, or in the acid juices of the roots of 

 plants. In either case the rapidity of its solution is in 

 direct ratio to the extent of surface wdiich it exposes. 

 The finer the particles, the more abundantly will the plant 

 be supplied with its necessary nourishment. In the Scioto 

 valley soils, the water which surrounds the roots of the 

 crops and the root-fibrils themselves come in contai-t wdth 

 such an extent of surface that they are able to dissolve 

 the soil-ingredients in as large quantity and as rapidly as 

 the crop requires. In coarse-grained soils this is not so 

 likely to be the case. Soluble matters (manures) must be 

 applied to them by the farmer, or his crops refuse to yield 

 handsomely. 



It is furthermore obvious, that, other things being equal, 

 the finer the, articles of the soil the more space the grow 



