AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 167 



on tlie orange stock, because ttey require dififerent substances froai the 

 ground, and such as the orange tree root would not extract. The sugar of 

 the fitif, tartaric acid of the grape, and citric acid of the lemon, are all dif- 

 ferent. If you plant a tree upon any soil, devoid of the substances the 

 tree requires, it will inevitably die. So it invariably is in grafting or 

 inoculating. It is indispensable that the sap of the stock should contain 

 all that the scion requires in all stages of its growth. 



Carbonate of Potash. — When trees are burned in the clearings of our 

 country, the ash is washed and dried ; this forms the potash of commerce ; 

 when this is dissolved in water, and boiled, pearlash is the result. 



I find carbonate of potash a powerful assistant in the growth of plants. 

 Ashes have been from the most remote antiquity, and are found in the sap 

 of all plants, more in some than others. Wood ashes and quick lime when 

 incorporated, form an admirable substance for dissolving and decomposing 

 vegetable substances. 



Sulphate of potash dissolved in 120 tinies its weight of water, acts very 

 advantageously upon leguminous vegetation. 



Nitrate of potash or saltpetre, exists and is constantly produced in many 

 soils ; the influence it exercises in the acceleration of the growth of plants 

 is wonderful. 



Citrates and tartrates of potash are found in many fruits ; citrates in the 

 lemon, tartrates in the grape, but they are not known in nature, except in 

 living plants. 



Chloride of sodium, or common sea salt, abounds in salt water, and in 

 various incrustations on the surface, and in solid masses on the earth ; it is 

 found in the ashes of all plants, and is often borne with the spray immense 

 distances inland. It has always been used to promote the advancement of 

 vegetation, and whenever it fails to benefit the land, you may decide it is 

 there in sufficient quantities. 



Sulphate of soda, a glauber salt, is manufactured from common salt, by 

 combining with it sulphuric acid in the presence of heat. This salt is found 

 on all plants, and diff"used more or less through all soils. 



Phosphate of soda is very grateful to most plants. Carbonate of lime, 

 nearly all lime stones, with carbonic acid gas, are varieties in different 

 states of purity, and will all efi'ervesce in dilute muriatic acid (spirit of 

 salt), and may thus be readily distinguished from all other rocks. It is 

 very valuable as a sustainer of vegetation. 



Chloride of calcium is obtained by dissolving quick lime in muratic acid ; 

 it has a surprising eifcct upon potatoes, causing them to weigh several 

 pounds. Corn manured with it will grow seventeen feet high, and its 

 effect upon the sun-flower is amazing. 



Sulphuret of calcium, is compounded of sulphur and calcium, and is 

 admirably adapted to the growth of plants in which sulphur is found. 



Bone earth, is a white substance that remains when bones are burned, 

 and consists of phosphate of lime. It is the substance chosen in nature to 

 give strength to animals. It is found in the seed of a great many plants, 



