122 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



March 



oration, keeping moisture in store for themselves 

 and the young grass, by absorbing moisture from 

 the air, as -well as exhausting it from the soil, — 

 for the plants are living and bi-eathing organisms, 

 and a mutual action is continually going on be- 

 tiveen them and the soil. "They are first fed by 

 the food which the root procures from the earth, 

 and a part of the nutritive matter which is stored 

 up in the seed-leaves. They feed especially upon 

 the latter until the store is exhausted, and by the 

 time this happens they are clothed with leaves 

 which arc themselves able to feed them after the 

 seed-leaves have perished." This is the language 

 of Prof. LiNDLEY, — than whom there is no higher 

 authority, — and we cite it to show that the oat 

 plants among the grass receive a large amount of 

 their support from the atmosphere, and conse- 

 quently, do not — in their early growth — exhaust 

 the soil so much as they benefit it by their shade, 

 and the moisture they bring to it from the air. 

 At any rate, not so much as is stated by our cor- 

 respondent. Both Hales and Duiiamel — among 

 the very highest authorities — say that branches 

 imbibe moisture nearly equally by either end ; and 

 consequently the sap moves with equal facility 

 hotli upwards and downwards. M. Bonnet states 

 that "leaves will imbibe enough of icater to sup- 

 ■port the vegetation of a whole branch, and the 

 leaves belonging to it." This does not look as 

 though the leaves of the oat plant were made 

 merely to rob the soil! 



Our friend may sow the seeds of the elm, ma- 

 ple, birch and pine, on a piece of M?isheltered land, 

 and he will find that a large proportion of the 

 plants — if they come up at all — will perish ; but if 

 he goes to the forest, cuts the trees and brush, 

 scrapes away the leaves, stirs the soil, and sows 

 the same kind of seeds there, they will not only 

 come up, but under the genial protection of the 

 suiTounding trees and shrubbery, will grow and 

 flourish in surprising numbers. He will find tliis 

 piece of soil, t?i ilce forest, although no mulching 

 lies upon it, moist and soft, when the pastures in 

 the vicinity are parched and barren. 



Was not our suggestion in accordance with the 

 almost universal practice of farmers, who sow oats 

 or barley with grass seed, not cntirehj because 

 they desire the crop of oats, but because the oats 

 themselves are, in some degree, a protection to 

 the young and tender grass plants ? A very suc- 

 cessful farmer informed us, a few days since, that 

 he invariably sows three bushels of oats per acre 

 ■with grass seed, and that he secures the best re- 

 sults under this practice, Avhich has been contin- 

 ued through many years, because it is a success- 

 ful practice. 



It is our practice to sow grass seed among stand- 

 ing corn, and we have never failed of securing fa- 

 vorable results under ordinary circumstances — but 



always the most satisfactory where the corn stood 

 the thickest, although on soil of the same quality 

 and in the same position. We have heretofore 

 urged tliis as a reason for laying lands to grass 

 wliile the corn is standing. 



We are informed that where coffee is cultivated, 

 it is always done under the protection of trees ; 

 that although the trees spread their roots far and 

 wide, they are condensers of moisture from the 

 air as well as extractors of it from the soil, and 

 are thus of essential benefit to the young and ten- 

 der plants. On the same principle, pasture lands 

 are much benefited by occasional shade trees scat- 

 tered over them, — and we believe it is generally 

 admitted, that such pastures afford more grass 

 than those entirely bare of trees. That though 

 the trees sap the soil, their other beneficial action 

 upon it is more than balanced by the drafts they 

 make upon the soil itself. Fourcroy — another 

 high authority — says : "In clearing up new lands, 

 the trees on the summits of hills should be left 

 standing. They attract the vapor that floats in 

 the atmosphere, and the rains, and serve as co7i- 

 ductors of that element to moisten the ground. 

 By their shade they retain the verdure and feed." 

 This is precisely the case. 



Another advantage of the oats is, that they 

 chcclc the currents of wind, and thus prevent evap- 

 oration, in a great degree. This point needs no 

 argument, as all admit that hay dries much faster 

 when there is a wind than when it is still ; the 

 wind rapidly carries away the natural evaporation 

 of the soil, which is continually succeeded by new 

 moisture and carried off by fresh currents, and 

 thus rapidly desiccates the ground. The oats 

 tend to keep these currents from the young grass, 

 and consequently a large portion of the evaporat- 

 ed moisture is kept among them. 



The difference of opinion entertained, seems to 

 us to arise from the fact that no credit is given to 

 plants for the absorption by them of loatcr from 

 the atmosphere. If they did not receive and im- 

 part it, how long would it be, in the absence of 

 rain, before the soil would become utterly unfit to 

 sustain a plant ? We quote Lindley again : "If 

 the branch of a plant is placed in a bottle of wa- 

 ter, and the neck of the bottle is luted to the 

 branch, so that no evaporation can take place, 

 nevertheless the water loill disappear; and this 

 can only happen from its having been abstracted 

 by the branch." This is just the action which we 

 ascribe to the leaves of the oat plants as they 

 stand among the grass. 



As we have this high authority before us, let 

 us quote again from it: lie says — "Since a plant 

 does not perspire [sweat] at night, and since its 

 absorbing points, the roots, remain during that 

 period in contact with the same humid medium 

 [that is, the soil] as during the day, they icill at- 



