452 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



We believe that by the use of colored glasses we can make 

 flowers grow as richly as they naturally do within the Tropics. 



A NOVEL AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT. 



The learned chemist Liebig, says that he has found the illus- 

 tration of the importance of mineral and organic ingredients to 

 plants. During 1845 to 1849 I made a series of experiments 

 upon the action of different mineral manures on a large scale on 

 about ten acres wdiich I purchased near the city of Giessen. My 

 former experiments in my city garden had produced no results. 

 Whatever I did, whatever I added to the soil were in vain, I could 

 not find any perceptible effect from any of my mixtures. The only 

 cause of this wdiich I could discover appeared to exist in my soil 

 which had been already so rich in these mineral constituents that 

 what I had added was inappreciable. This was m}" inducement 

 to buy the sandy land at Giessen, on which ten acres one sheep 

 could not live. The soil partly of light sand, quartz sand and a 

 little soil. I filled pots with this and sowed wheat, barley and 

 red clover fn them. I added mineral manures alone — not one of 

 the plants grown in them did more than merely flower. I ob- 

 tained from a soda factory a quantity wiiich I spread uniformly 

 over the land; excepting a vineyard on it of 2,000 vines. 



THE EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH EXPERIMENTS ON 



FLOUR. 



The Emperor, Napoleon III., has on many occasions shown him- 

 self to be an extraordinary man. He has conceived the idea that 

 it was possible to reduce the volume of flour so as to facilitate its 

 transportation without injury to its quality. 



The eartli is never ungrateful to him who applies to her intelli- 

 gence, science and industry. That man of Britain who first taught 

 the rotation of crops, doubled their amount in Britain. The man 

 W'ho first introduced turnips and root crops, doubled it again; and 

 he wlio first used drainage, will double the whole again. So that 

 within the last hundred years the produce of Britain on the same 

 lands, has been eight times more than it w^as, and still we may put 

 the question — Where is the limit of this progression ? 



The old Fly-cnach gave way to Royal-mail coaches, making 

 eleven miles per hour ! What a marvellous change has occurred 

 since that, in about thirty years past ! 



We consider drainage and deep culture the grandest inventions 

 of modern times. 



When the circumstances are favorable, the depth should be 

 three, four and even five feet. Every cultivator should treat his 



