NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



135 



Dr. A. HunttT, the author and compiler of several 

 (Tolumes of Ceorgical Lssays, many of which contain 

 rery useful observations, and facts, which are the her- 

 ilds of much agricullural science, thought that he too 

 lad discovered the genuine food of plants. " I lay it 

 lown, he observed, as a fundamental maxim, that all 

 plants receive their principal nourishment, from oily 

 uid mucilaginous particles, incorporated with water, 

 3y means of an alkaline salt, or absorbent earth. Till 

 )il is made miscible, it is unable to enter the radical 

 vessels of vegetables, and on that account Trovidencc 

 las bountifully supplied all natural soils with chalky 

 )r other absorbent particles." Fxperiment, however, 

 he only infallible touchstone of theory, at length cou- 

 .incud Dr. Hunter that the cheapest oil was a very 

 lear, but not very efficient article in a manure or com- 

 30st heap ; and oil, considered as a pabulum of vege- 

 tation, was held in no higher estimation than the sub- 

 stances which it had superseded. 



The atmosphere had the honor of being next pro- 

 moteil to the otfice of purveyor of plants, and victualler 

 jf vegetation. The whole vegetable kingdom, from 

 the cedar of Lebanon to the moss upon the wall, from 

 the oak of the forest to the parasitical plant, which, 

 according to Sir Joseph Banks, battens upon the stalk 

 uf wheat, and causes mildew, was fed on air like a 

 lam. lion ; and manure derived all its utility from its 

 itlraction for the atmospherical paliulum, or panacea. 

 That air does contain food for plants is evident from 

 he circumstance that the house leek aud various sorts 

 jf mosses will increase in weight without the aid of 

 water or earth. But there are some other substances 

 which appear to possess it in greater quantities, and 

 better prepared for the purposes of vegetation. Thus 

 I plant, whiih is partly withered in the air, maybe 

 •evived by being sprinkled with water, and water 

 slightly impregnated with muriate of soda, [common 



>xygen and hydrogen into " the various earths, the 

 ilkalies, acids, metals, carbon, sulphur, plvosphorus, 

 litrogen," &c. it would probably be more convenient 

 "or said vegetables to be fed with food, which contains 

 iuch products as enter into their composition and make 

 1 part of their substance, ready manufactured, than to 

 je under the necessitj' of manufacturing the whole 

 rom oxygen aud hydrogen, which M. Braconnot ap- 

 pears to believe are the primitive particles, or raw ma- 

 lerials from which the luiiverse was constructed. 



Some remarks by Mr. Cooper, Editor of the last 

 American edition of Dr. Willich's Domestic Encyclope- 

 dia, would appear to strengthen the conclusion of M. 

 Braconnot. 



" In the case of the decomposition of animal sub- 

 stances, whether in the dry, or4he moist way, no acid 

 appears : we get azote, a foitid animal oil, swimming 

 at the top of a volatile alkaline liquor, and sometimes 

 »ncrete volatile alkali, or carbonate of ammonia comes 

 jver. The retort contains an animal charcoal, con- 

 sisting of azote, carbon loosely combined, the base of 

 Ihe prussic acid, and if bones be used, phosphate of 

 lime. 



• In this case, the azote, the lime, and the phospho- 

 !i;, seem to be new combinations, the result of animal 

 organization, modifying chemical affinity. There are 

 many districts of Pennsylvania, perhaps the best pas- 

 ture land in it, that do not contain a particle of lime 

 ;tone. Such for instance as a great part of the county 

 of Luzerne, and the beech country comprehended be 

 tween the north-east branch of Susquehannah, the N 

 York state line and the Delaware. There is no finer 

 grass country ; but lime-stone is rare throughout the 

 jreatest part of this space. A calf bred up there, will 

 liave bones, that is phosphate of lime ; his flesh will 

 yield aso/e, either by distillation, or by the nitric acid; 

 Where does he get it ? The soil contains none; the 

 crrnss nn which he feeds contains none, but the ox is 

 i.Vi' (ly composed of a?ote and phosphate of lime :" 



>alt] and perhaps some other saline substances, will 

 preserve vegetables from drooping longer than pure 

 distilled water. At any rate, it is pretty evident that 

 the atmosphere is not a very rich food for vegetables, 

 because it robs a manure heap of its fertiliiing quali- 

 ties, although it communicates such qualities to a hun- 

 gry loam. It is like a pint of water about half saturat- 

 ed with common salt, which by mixture will make a 

 quart perfectly fresh water somewhat brackish ; or if 

 the quart of water was fully saturated with salt, some- 

 what more fresh. In other words, the atmosphere caus- 

 es very rich laud to become poorer, and very poor land 

 to become richer, and can with no more propriety be 

 said to constitute the food of plants, than earth can be 

 said to constitute the food of mankind, because some 

 savages in South America are said to support nature, 

 in times of scarcity, from a sort of fat loam or mould 

 which they dig up and swallow. 



While philosophers were thus floundering on from 

 one deep abyss of error to another still deeper, Chem- 

 istry came forward, and proffered its lamp to guide 

 their feet. By analysing vegetables, chemists profess- 

 ed to ascertain, precisely, what kind of matter entered 

 into their composition, or, (to express the same thing 

 in more familiar terms) what sort of stufl' they were 

 made of. The simple subetances which they found in 

 plants are principally oxygen, [vital air] hydrogen, 

 [inflammable air] and carbon [coaly matter.] Some 

 others are found in smaller quantities, such as phos- 

 phorus, lime, silica, &c. Sec. and seem to be rather ac- 

 cidental additions than substances which are indispen- 

 sable to their existence.* These few simple elements, 

 by being variously compounded and modified, produce 

 gum or mucilage, starch, sugar, albumen, gluten, gum 

 elastic, extract, tannin, indigo, narcotic principle, bit- 

 ter principle, wax, resin, fixed oil, volatile oil, woody 

 fibre acids, alkalies, &c. &c. ^A hen these premises 

 were once established, and it was discovered that 

 nearly all the substance of all plants was hydrogen, 

 oxygen, and carbon, it followed, as Sir Humphrey 

 Davy has expressed it, that " no one principle aflbrds 

 the pabulum of vegetable life; i s neither charcoal, 

 [coaly matter] nor hydrogen, [inflammable air] nor 

 azote, [the elastic substance which forms a great part 

 of the atmosphere and which is incapable of supporting 

 combustion] nor oxygen, [vital air] alone ; but all of 

 them together in various states, and various combi- 

 nations."* 



We believe that this theory of Sir Humphrey Davy 

 is the most correct of any which has been advanced, 

 and hope, in a future number, to deduce from his prin- 

 ciples some results which may prove of practical uti- 

 lity. . (to be COXTIiVl'ED.) 



* It is thought, however, that lime and silica are in- 

 dispensably requisite for the existence of some plants, 

 in which they are always found by analysis. 



t See Agricultural Chemistry, lecture 1, p. 18, Bal- 

 timore edition. 



Cul. PowtlVs Improvemenis in the Breeding of Cattle, 

 We have republished in this day's paper, p. 134, an 

 article from the American Farmer, headed " Improve- 

 ment of Js'eat Cattle,'''' with much satisfaction ; and are 

 happy in an opportunity of expressing our sense of the 

 merit which attaches to such exertions of wealth and 

 talent to become usi;ful as well as eminent. Colonel 

 Powell is well known in Massachusetts as a liberal and 

 enlightene<i Agriculturist, and his efforts to promote 

 the intercs:s of those who cultivate the soil will be as 

 highly appreciated in New England as in Pennsylvania. 



Mr. Fick, of New York, selected from an half acre 

 of cabbages, 7 heads, which weighed 134 pounds. 



jlmeriedn Talent Inghly appreciattdin Extropc. — Lir. 

 Ru5h''s Medical Enquiries ; Dr. \\ islar's Anatomy ; 

 S( amao on \ arcination ; Chapman's 'J herapeutics ; 

 liigelow's Botany and Potter on Contagion, have been 

 republished in <ir(at Crilain ; and the last mentioned 

 having gone throvigh several London editions has been 

 translated info 1 nnrh, aiid published at I'ai^, ar.d 

 into German, and published at Liijizig. 



'Ihe town of l'ri«tr>l (England) is to be lighted with 

 gas. A capit.al of EO,tCO pcuuds has been subscribed 

 I'y a company for this peiposc. 



A serious niisuiukrEtanding exists between the Prince 

 of Brazil and the Portuguese Cortes. 1 he formir has 

 shewn a disposition lo render his government indepen- 

 dent of the motliei* country, and the latter have decreed 

 that the delegated aulliority of the Prince shall imme- 

 diately cease, and that he shall return to Porti.gol in 

 the course of four months. 



Havana is said to he greatly infested with robbers, 

 who commit nocturnal depredations, keep the inhabi- 

 tants in a state of constant alarm, anel are sometimes 

 too powerful for Ihe control of the police. 



A profitable commerce is now carried on between 

 some of tlie por(= in the Southern states and the "West 

 India Islands belonging to the British. The P.akigb 

 Register says, "one small vessel carried out a cargo of 

 timber which cost $500, and returned with West India 

 produce worth $3,000." 



A dreadful stoim has occurred in the neighboihood 

 of Calcutta, in which from IG to 17,000 houses were 

 destroyed, and more than 12,000 men, v. omen and 

 children. The loss in cattle, grain, ice. was also very 

 great ; and those who escaped the inundation arc 

 threatened with famine. 



Poison. — Mr. Edmund Jukes, a surgeon of Westmin- 

 ster, Eng. has invented an apparatus by which the 

 stomach may be emptied of poison, received by acci- 

 dent or design. After trying it on various animals with 

 complete success, he experimented on himself'— aad 

 swallowed ten drachms of laudanum, from which he 

 was promptly relieved. 



A foot race between a Y^orkshire-man and a Lanca- 

 shire-man was lately run at Doncaster. The purse was 



20 guineas. The Yorkshire-man won the race by 100 

 yareis. Time, 20 minutes and 35 seconds, for 4 miles. 



Longevity. — There is now living in the state of Ohio 

 a poor old woman, named Ann Bailey, who is supposeel 

 to be about one hundred and twenty years old. She 

 was about 12 or 13 years old, when Queen Anne of 

 England died, after whom she was named. She still 

 retains so much health and slre-ngth as to scmctimes 

 attend market with a few fowls, i:c. making a journey 

 on foot of about seven miles to dispose of her articles, 

 which she carries on her back. 



Since the first of January, sixty-seven of the officers 

 of the U. S. .\avy have died. 



At Schenectady, N. Y. Fair, a bull calf was exhibit- 

 ed, for which the owner refused to take $2St^. 



Miss Harrison, of Amenia, N. Y. h.as made an imita- 

 tion Leghorn for which she was offered §150. She was 

 ten weeks in comph ting Ihe work. 



M. Guy Duplanfier, of Louisiana, has invented n 

 machine for makirg bricks, which, it is said, w ill do as 

 much wt>rk as 30 men. Also, another machine for 

 piercing or morticing fence poits, in which he applies 

 the power of horses, as it is said, to great advantage. 



Rot in Cotloju — A Mississippi Cotton Planter, who 

 was curious enough to watch the motions of a species 

 of bug hovering round the cotton trees, has published, 

 in the Port Gibson paper the result of his observations, 

 by which it appears that the rot in coltcri is caused by 

 the slini: of a bug, which, piercing the tender covering 

 of Ihe bov.l, in its unripe state, produces, in tlie course 

 of three days, the elecay of the Vowl. 



Gigantic Vegelahle. — A beet which grew in jhc gar- 

 den of Mr. Daniel Kramer, of Northampton, Pa. and 

 which is now to be seen at his house, weighs fifteen 

 pounds and a half, and measures at the thickest part 

 thirty-fcur inches and a half", and somewhat lower 

 down, twenty-seven inches. Who can beat this i' 



Philadelphia Vnion. 



A^s. Massachusetts, N. Hampshire, and we believe 

 every state in New England can beat the Pennsylvania 

 beet all hollow. Mr. Leonard Pratt, of Pembroke, N. 

 H. raised a beet weighing 22 pounds, and Mr. E. N. 

 Chadwick, of Hanover, Mass. a beet which weighed 



21 pounds. Therefore the Pennsylvania beet is ly DP 

 means the beat of all tcets. 



