234 



MANURES. 



Sect. X. 9. 2. 



w 



igetable roots In a ftate of lefs decompofition, than by the flow pro 

 fs of putrefadion, is a queflion of curiofity and utility. 



Susar and mucilage 



are 



ly abforbed by vegetables 



w 



their being refolved into the elements, from which they were com 



ppears 



pofed ; as ; 



birch and maple trees in 



fap-j 



n 



r 



which flows from the wounds of 

 i\ months ; which I am informed 



"will pafs into fermentation and prod 



procefs which fom 



modern chemift affirms cannot be efFeded by fugar alone witho 



the addition of 



a 



The abforption of mucilage feems 



the germination of many feeds, as of barley ; a part of th 



F 



of the cotyledon is evidently converted into fu 



t 



of 



probably abforbed in the form of 



m 



& 



but another par 

 fome of which 



breaking the plum 



and in the growth of thofe feeds 



which contain oil, as in almond, hemp, rape 



d 



feed 



It IS 



probable, a part of the undecompofed oil may be abforbed by the um- 

 bilical veflels of the.embryons in thofe feeds. 



It hence feems credible, that by the ufe of heat and water the art of 



ikery might furnifli mucila 



fu 



^_^ 



d oil, from vegetable or 



animal materials ; which might be converted into fap-juice or chyl 



previoufly reduced into their 



without their being 



might thus facilitate the more luxuriant growth of pla 



m 



d 



as 



th 



ey 



contribute more to fatten anim 



tion» 

 2. 



th 



mater 



of lefs combina 



■ 



To this might be added, that the putrefadive procefs may be 

 forwarded by heat in fome materials by deftroying the life of the ma- 

 terial; as in roafting apples and pears, and in killing the roots of po- 

 tatoes, or the feeds of corn. 



Thus Mr. D 



a friend of mine 



had twenty ftrikes of potatoes, which he wifhed to dry on a malt- 

 kiln, hoping to render them more like the meal of wheat, and better 

 to preferve them during the fummer-months. Whether they were 



fufficiently dried he did not attend 



but they were carried 



granary, 



F 

 J 



and laid on heaps ; and in a week or two became fo putrid, 



that 



