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NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 ACTION OF ■WATER ON PLANTS. 



In the vegetable economy, water is so common 

 a thinfj;, that Vi'e are apt to give it less importance 

 than it deserves ; yet on reflection, we know it is 

 indispensable to plants, as all their inorganic nu- 

 triment (the various salts of the soil) must be 

 dissolved in it, and drawn up with it — plants be- 

 ing nursing organizations, not masticating. A 

 drought of five or six weeks in the summer season, 

 shows the bad effects of its absence — a shower 

 its good ciTects. Rain water is more impregnat- 

 ed with air and gases than spring, and hence its 

 remarkable effect upon vegetation. The poet 

 Thompson aptly designates a shower as "falling 

 verdure." The sap or common juice of plants 

 consists chiefly of water, and its privation is less 

 tolerable than that of more solid nutriment — the 

 same as man can bear hunger longer than thirst. 



All water comes originally from the ocean, from 

 which it evaporates, leaving the salt behind. It 

 rises to a colder region, condenses, coalesces, and 

 falls in rain. So falling, it cleanses the leaves of 

 plants, enters the pores of the foliage and tender 

 bark, and dissolves the salts of the soil. The elec- 

 tric spark of the thunder storm frees, to an ex- 

 tent, the nitrogen from the atmosphere, and sends 

 it down with the rain to invigorate vegetation. 

 The value of a heavy shower upon crops long 

 suffering for rain, might, perhaps, be safely esti- 

 mated at five dollars the acre. 



Water in the form of dew is another important 

 means for the sustenance of plants. After sun- 

 set, the earth radiates its heat mor-e rapidly than 

 the atmosphere, and consequently the stratum of 

 air immediately in contact with it undergoes a con- 

 densation of its vapor, and deposits it on the 

 leaves and grass in the form of dew. The power 

 of rapid radiation of heat which plants possess, 

 and the consequent power of collecting the mois- 

 ture of the atmosphere, is one of the most im- 

 portant provisions of nature for their preserva- 

 tion during the warm season. 



Water has the power of absorbing its own bulk 

 of carbonic acid gas, as also portions of the oxy- 

 gen and nitrogen of the atmosphere ; and these 

 gases it takes with it into the plant, v/hether it 

 discovers them in the soil or externall)'. In fact, 

 water itself (or its tv/o elements, oxygen and hy- 

 drogen) is thought to furnish important nutri- 

 ment to plants, aside from its powers as a vehicle 

 for other kinds. This is effected by the power of 

 the plant to decompose it, and to incorporate into 

 its organization either principle. 



Artificial irrigation is often resorted to for gar- 

 dens, and always, necessarily, for green-houses. 

 For this purpose, rain water which has been stand- 

 ing some time, is excellent, and the more frequent- 

 ly it has been stirred up the better, thus giving 

 more carbonic acid gas and atmosphere to the 

 plant. The water of rivers, and that of stagnant 

 ponds is good; particularly the latter, as the green 

 scum frequently found upon its surface, affords 

 food for the numerous swarms of the insect tribe — 

 flics, worms, snails, Sec. As this ephemeral pop- 

 ulation perishes, it gives an ofTensive cfiluvia to 

 the water, but the richer it is in food for vegeta- 

 tion. Spring, or well water, is perhaps the least 

 appropriate for irrigation ; but if it is obliged to 

 be used, it is well to expose it to the atmosphere 



to remedy the deficiency of its air and proper 

 temperature. 



For irrigation to be successful, the soil, of 

 course, should be porous, otherwise the water 

 runs to some hollow spot, or is evaporated. The 

 soil in a well attended flower pot seems to be in 

 the best condition for plants, for here the water 

 readily sinks, and all not required passes out at 

 the perforation at the bottom. Here, too, we see 

 the harmony of the paradoxical idea that irriga- 

 tion and underdraining assist each other. 



Striking holes with a bar is a good method for 

 facilitating the descent of water around trees and 

 shrubbery, in the hot season, when the earth is 

 dry and hard. And these plants, when well es- 

 tablished, will bear at their roots, pretty strong 

 sink water, barnyard drainage, or any other li- 

 quid manure. In fact, they generally get too lit- 

 tle of it. D. "\T. L. 



W. Medford, Aug., 1861. 



CHEAP FOOD— A NEW DISH. 



A writer in one of the Eastern papers says that 

 probably not one farmer in fifty knows what ex- 

 cellent, hearty, wholesome food he can have di- 

 rectly from the wheat field, stack or barn. He 

 says: "The writer's family breakfasted this morn- 

 ing, July 20th, mainly on boiled wheat. Boiled 

 wheat and wheat gravy. Boiled wheat and milk. 

 Boiled wheat and maple sugar. Not wheat flour, 

 nor wheaten groats, nor cracked wheat, but whole 

 grains of wheat, shelled from the best heads, as 

 the larger the better, and soaked in cold water 

 two or three hours, and then boiled in the same 

 water one or two hours, or until it is quite soft, 

 and the water all absorbed. It should be cooked 

 while other culinary operations are going on, as 

 it needs to boil or simmer on a slow fire a good 

 while, and care must be taken at the last that it 

 does not burn. To prevent this it may be finished 

 off in a sand bath, that is a pan of heated sand, 

 or in a pan of water, or in a tin kettle set upon 

 a thick earthen plate on a stove ; or in a stove 

 oven with all the heat over the top. How easy 

 for our soldiers to have a change in the eternal 

 bread and salt meat rations, if they may be al- 

 lowed to glean a few wheat heads from the 'sa- 

 cred soil' of the enemy, and boil the grains in 

 their camp kettle. IIov/ convenient would this 

 little item of knowledge in domestic cooking be 

 to the v/ife of many a farmer, who would gladly 

 get up an extra dish for the tired harvest hands. 

 Try it. How many families are this day living 

 on short allowance, right alongside of a wheat 

 field, or with grain in stack or barn near the 

 house, because they cannot get it ground, the 

 mill being dried up, or broken down, or occupied 

 by 'the army,' or suffering collapse, so that no 

 grindina: can be had." 



Employment of Camels in California. — 

 Julius Bandman, who owns ten Bactrian camels, 

 which Mr. Frisius imported from Siberia, is con- 

 vinced, after months of experience and observa- 

 tion, that these camels are valuable for packing 

 over mountains and plains. He trots them over 

 the San Francisco sand-hills daily, to eat thistles 

 and exercise their muscles under bags of sand, 

 each camel being able to carry easily G50 pounds. 



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