316 



N E rt ENGLAND FARMER 



For the Nuw England Farmer. 



SULPHURETTED II VnilOGEN— ITS USE 

 TO PLANTS. 

 Mr Bifrk — In tlie Fub. Nii. of the Amoricnn 

 Ajrriciilturisl, lliere is a review nf tlie third editnin 

 of Priif. Lipbitr's " Arrric'-iltiiral Chemistry," copied I 

 from Ihi! G.irdener'.s Chronicle, (Eng.) The re- 

 viewer says: "It is rather more than three years 

 since since this remarkable book was laid before 

 the British Association. In that time two edition.s 

 have been printed. They have been received on 

 tha one hand with most extravaorant praise, and on 

 the other with unmeasured censure Tin- issue of 

 all this has been productive of much good. 'I'he 

 two together have produced a book infinitely supe. 

 rior to its predecessors, and to a very considerable 

 extent, unlike them." However, I shall not quote 

 any farther from the review, only as concerns the 

 use of sulpliureited hydrogen, which the ptolessor 

 thinks may be of equal, or even of greater impor- 

 tance in the process of the growth and nutrition of 

 vegetation, than ammonia. 



The reviewer says: "In the former editions, 

 ammonia was tlie great subject of discussion. As 

 chemists seem agreed in considering it improbable 

 that plants should obtain their mlrof^en directly 

 from the air, and as all plants contain that element, 

 ammonia seems to be the only source by which it 

 can be supplied; and in all probability this is a 

 just view of the case. Nevertheless it is by no 

 means proved that larger quantities of ammonia 

 than the atmosphere naturally contains, arc neces- 

 sary to the most liealthy vegetation ; and although 

 it IS certniii that matter rich in ammoniacal salts, 

 is among the most powerlul of manures, it has been 

 supposed by some, that other substances constantly 

 prosent along with the ammonia, may be of equal, 

 or even of greater importance. Such is sulphu- 

 retted hydrogen; such are phosphates. This opin- 

 ion is now taken up by Professor Li^-big, who de- 

 votes a whole chapter to its consideration. After 

 stating timt animal matter contains invariably the 

 substances named albumen, fibrin, and casein, all 

 three rich in sulphur, he inquires 



' From what source does the animal body derive 

 these three fundamental components ? Unques- 

 tionably they are ohtamed from the plants upon 

 which the animals subsist. But in what form and 

 in what condition are they contained in plants? 



' Recent invesiiffations of chemists have enabled 

 us to answer these questions with positive certain- 

 ty. Plants contain, cither deposited in their roots 

 or seeds, or dissolved in their juices, variable quan- 

 tities of compounds containing sulphur. In these, 

 nitrogen is an invariable constituent. 



' Two of the compounds containing sulphur, ex- 

 ist in the seeds of cereal plants, and in those of 

 leguminous vegetables, such as peas, lentils, and 

 beans. A third is always present in the juices of 

 all plants ; and it is found in the greatest abun- 

 dance in the juices of those which we use for the 

 purposes of (he table. 



' A very e.\act inquiry into the properties and 

 composition of these substances, has produced a 

 very remarkable result, namely, that the sulphur- 

 compound dissolved in the juice of plants, is, in 

 reality, identical with the albumen contained in the 

 serum of blood, and in the white of an ena-, that 

 the sulphur-compound in the seeds of the cereals, 

 possesses the same properties and compo.cition as 

 the fibrin of the blood ; and that the nutritious con- 



KVRlJj 3, 184.] 



stituenis of peas, beans, and lentils, are actually of 

 the same nature and composition as the casein of 

 milk. Hence it follows that plants, and not ani- 

 mals, generate the constituents of blood containing 

 sulphur. When these are absent from the fond 

 given to an animal, its blond cannot be formed. 

 From this it also follows, that vegetable food will 

 be proportionably nutritious and fit to sustain the 

 vital processes of the animal body, according to 

 the iiniount of these ingredients contained within it. 

 'There also exist ce.rtain families of plants, such 

 as the crucileras, (cabbage and turnip,) which con- 

 tain peculiar sulphur-compounds much richer in 

 that element than the vegetable constituents of 

 blfud The seeds of black mustard, the horse- 

 radish, garlic, onions, and scurvy grass, are partic- 

 ularly inaiked in this respect. From all of these 

 plants we obtain by simple distillation with water, 

 certain volatile oils, differing from all other organ- 

 ic compounds not containing sulphur, by their pe- 

 culiar, pungent, and disagreeable odor. These 

 compounds containing sulphur, are present in the 

 seeds of all plants, as well as in the plants them- 

 selves ; and as they are particularly abundant in 

 cultiv.ited plants employed for animal nutrition, it 

 is quite obvious that a substance containins; sittphur 

 is absolutely essential to the developement of such 

 compounds, in order to supply to them their proper 

 proportion of this element." 



Upon the above remarks of Liebig, the reviewer 

 says: " 'I hese are very remarkable statements, 

 and require to be considered with great attention. 

 The opinion, however, that sulphur is beneficial to 

 plants, is not originally Liebig's : he, on the con- 

 trary, so lately as J842, adopted the erroneous 

 opinions of Christison and Turner, and regarded 

 the ' hydrosulphate of ammonia (sulphurate of am- 

 monia) as a deadly poison to vegetables, the prop- 

 erties of which we cannot change by dilution.' It 

 was however proved experimentally by Mr Edward 

 Solly, (First Report of the Chemical Committee of 

 the Horticultural Society, p. iJ, June, 1842,) that this 

 was a mistake. He says : 'I made use of the hy- 

 drosulphuret of ammonia, the very compound de- 

 scribed by Liebig as being a deadly poison, but in- 

 stead of killing plants, I found that in small quan- 

 tity, it produced decidedly beneficial effects : in 

 some cases where it was applied to plants in an 

 unhealthy state from the action of other substan- 

 ces, it had the effect of invigorating them, and re- 

 storing their leaves to a healthy, green, and crisp 

 condition. For sometime after thus watering the 

 plants, the earth retained a strong smell of sulphu- 

 retted hydrogen, and the water which drained 

 through, when tested by a salt of lead, evidently 

 contained a large quantity of that gas.' 



" The source from which sulphur is obtained by 

 plants, is not the atmosphere, according to Liebig, 

 but the soil, whence it is furnished by the decom- 

 position- of sulphates." 



From the preceding it seems that Liebig is now 

 in theory, a strong believer in the importance of 

 sulphuretted hydrogen, or that a substance con- 

 taining sulphur is essential to the growth and nu- 

 trition of plants. That lie is correct in his theory, 

 there seems to be some well-attested facts that go 

 to prove. For, in the Report of Prof. Hitchcock, 

 on a Re-exaininalion of the Economical Geology of 

 Mass., at page 9.3, he gives an account of what he 

 culls •' muck sand." He says, "as this siilislaiice 

 has never been proposed for use in agriculture, it 



will be necessary to state tlie circumstances tli 

 have led me to bring it forward in this place. 



"Nine or ten years ago, Luther Root, Esl 

 Cashier of Amherst Bank, had occasion to dits 

 well in his garden in Sunderland, where he th' 

 resided. This was only eighty rods from Conntl 

 ticiil river, and the land there is alluvial to |! 

 depth ol more than twenty teet. Near the bottii 

 the excavation passed through a thick stiatum 

 what IS usually called quick sand, and which 

 being thrown out, emitted a strong odor of sulp): 

 retted hydrogen. It not being convenient to 

 move all this earth, it was spread upon a conside 

 ble part of his garden, which was a good soil a 

 always well manured, and he was warned aiiai 

 doing this, lest it should nun his garden : and 

 thinks the quantity spread was not greater thai 

 good coat of manure. The part thus covered v 

 mostly planted with water-melons and other vini 

 and instead of injuring the spot, it produced 

 great an increase of fertility as to astonish hims 

 and neighbors, and to lead them to searcli 

 banks of the river and low places for a similar si 

 stance. The good effects continued for two yet 

 and afterwards declined, so that in a year or t 

 the land thus treated was not better tiian the ol 

 parts of the garden. 



"Seventeen or eighteen years ago, Hir Ru 

 Rice had occasion to dig a well on his farm 

 South Deerfield ; and after passing through 

 feet from the surface, he struck upon what ho 

 scribes a quick sand, though dry at the time 

 dug it, and probably mixed with clay. Fe 

 sciibes it as giving out a strong odor, and a en 

 quantity which he showed me, that had lain for 

 teen years, still retained that odor. Wishing 

 rei.iove the sand thus thrown from a well 22 f 

 deep, and having understood that the effect ol 

 change of soil was good, he carted five loads, al| 

 it h.id lain exposed for a year, upon a piece 

 plowing, spreading it about as thick as a good c 

 ofmanire. This was in autumn; and the n 

 spring the whole piece was planted with Iiid 

 corn, after having been manured in the hill. ' 

 that part of the field which had received the mi- 

 sand, soon began to show a much more tlr 

 growth than the other, and yielded a larger ci 

 From that time to the present, (1838.) corn, o;c 

 and clover have been the rotation of crops ev 

 three years, (except two crops of rye raised u] 

 it,) and whenever it was manured, all parts w 

 spread over alike; and even up to the presJ 

 lime, the part on which the muck sand was spr' 

 seventeen years ago, continues to show decide 

 more fertility than the other part. I saw this di 

 rence last autumn, in the crop of Indian corn tl 

 growing, and it was considerable. 



" A few rods from the spot where the well ab 

 noticed was dug, another had been excavated th 

 years previously, to the depth of eighty feet, ■■ 

 a large quantity of the muck sand, with perh 

 some clay, lay upon the surface, although the v 

 itself had been filled by the caving of the sic 

 Mr Rice carried from five to ten loads of this u 

 a spot of dry mowing, which had almost ceasct 

 produce grass. It was spread about as thick a 

 good coat of manure, (but no mixture with i 

 manure,) some time in June. On the first crof 

 grass that year, it produced no effect, and th 

 was not enough grass to be worth gathering, 

 the second crop was a very heavy one, and cons 

 ed mainly of clover, aUhougli the clover had; 



