1870. 



NEW ENGLAND FARIVIER. 



375 



evaporation) into the atmosphere, its place is 

 supplied (by capillarity) from the stores be- 

 low. The ascending water brings along with 

 it the soluble matters of the soil, and thus the 

 roots of plants are situated in a stream of their 

 appropriate food. The movement proceeds 

 in this way so long as the surface is drier than 

 the deeper soil. When, by rain or otherwise, 

 the surface is saturated, it is like letting a thin 

 stream of oil run upon the apex of the lamp 

 wick — no more evaporation into the air can 

 occur, and consequently there is no longer 

 any ascent of water ; on the contrary, the 

 water by its own weight, penetrates the soil, 

 and if the underlying ground be not saturated 

 with moisture, as can happen where the sub- 

 terranean fountains yield a meagre supply, 

 then capillarity will aid gravity in its down- 

 ward distribution. 



It is certain that a portion of the mineral 

 matters, and perhaps also some organic bodies 

 which feed the plant, are more or less freely 

 dissolved in the water of the soil. So long as 

 evaporation goes on from the surface, so long 

 there is a constant upward flow of these mat- 

 ters. Those portions which do not enter veg- 

 etation accumulate on or near the surface of 

 the ground ; when a rain falls, they are washed 

 down again to a certain depth, and thus are 

 kept constantly changing their place with the 

 water, which is the vehicle of their distribu- 

 tion. In regions where rain falls periodically 

 or not at all, this upward flow of the soil-water 

 often causes an accumulation of salts on the 

 surface of the ground. Thus in Bengal many 

 soils which in the wet season produce the 

 most luxuriant crops, during the rainless por- 

 tion of the year become covered with white 

 crusts of saltpetre. The beds of nitrate of 

 soda that are found in Peru, and the carbon- 

 ate of soda and other salts, which incrust the 

 deserts of Utah, and often fill the air with 

 alkaline dust, have accumulated in the same 

 manner. So in our western caves the earth 

 sheltered from rains is saturated with salt — 

 epsom salts, Glauber's salts, and saltpetre, or 

 mixtures of these. Often the rich soils of 

 gardens is slightly incrusted in this manner 

 in our summer weather ; but the saline matters 

 are carried into the soil with the next rain. 



It is easy to see how, in a good soil, capil- 

 larity thus acts in keeping the roots of plants 

 constantly immersed in a stream of water or 

 moisture that is now ascending, now descend- 

 ing, but never at rest, and how the food of 

 the plant is thus made to circulate around the 

 organs fitted for absorbing it. 



The same causes that maintain this perpet- 

 ual supply of water and food to the plant are 

 also etficacious in constantly preparing new 

 supphes of food. As before explained, the 

 materials of the soil are always undergoing 

 decomposition, whereby the silica, lime, phos- 

 phoric acid, potash, &c., of the insoluble frag- 

 ments of rock, become soluble in water and 

 accessible to the plant. Water charged with 



carbonic acid and oxygen is the chief agent in 

 these chemical changes. The more extensive 

 and rapid the circulation of water in the soil, the 

 more matters will be rendered soluble in a 

 given time, and other things being equal the 

 less will the soil be dependent on manures 

 to keep up its fertility. — Johnson's New Work, 

 How Plants Feed. 



ECONOMY IN SMALL THINGS. 



There is no truer saying in all the prover- 

 bial wisdom of sensible Old Richard's Alma- 

 nac, than that, "he who saves in small things 

 will in time rejoice in great possessions," and 

 in so earnestly impressing the importance of 

 economy upon the attention of Southern far- 

 mers, we think that the newspapers of that 

 section are proving themselves the true friends 

 of their readers. And there is great need for 

 the practice of this homely virtue by the far- 

 mers of this State, who, with their large farms 

 and heavy crops, are too much inclined to under- 

 rate the value of the innumerable small things 

 about them, which by timely attention might 

 be made to enhance their revenue. Tools and 

 implements, if taken care of, would last much 

 longer than they generally do ; the sweepings 

 of the hen-roost, the refuse from the hog- pen 

 and the slops from the kitchen, with one-half 

 their quantity of leaf mould from the fence cor- 

 ners in the woods, would furnish every week,two> 

 or three hundred pounds of fertilizing material, 

 just as good as Chincha Island guano. Tkis ap- 

 plied to the worn-out fields or gardens would 

 largely increase the corn or vegetables, be- 

 sides leaving the ground in an improved con- 

 dition. I'^ow there are numerous instances on 

 every farm where things heretofore wasted as 

 of no value, might by a trifling expenditure 

 of labor, be utilized and made a source of 

 profit. Why not, then, pay the needed atten- 

 tion to such matters as these, when the brief 

 time required could be spared from more 

 important concerns? There is, certainly, 

 nothing discreditable in the prudence that 

 seeks to prevent the waste of anything that may 

 be rendered valuable. Is it the fear of being 

 regarded penurious ? "W^ill you be led to 

 disregard your own interests by such un- 

 worthy apprehensions ? Certainly, the opinions 

 of those who would ridicule such economy are 

 not worth retaining. We do not ask our read- 

 ers to be miserly and avaricious, and we urge 

 only the duty of economy. There is a very 

 wide difference between stinginess and pru- 

 dence, for the one is to be condemned and the 

 other approved. The true philosophy of life 

 is, to enjoy in moderation the goods we have, 

 not wasting nor hoarding, and this is the prac- 

 tice we commend. 



In times past, more frequently than at the 

 present, comparisons were instituted between 

 the system of farming practiced at the North 

 and that followed in Kentucky, very much to the 

 discredit of our people. Now, if the farmer 



