I860.] 



THE SOUTHEKN PLANTER. 



479 



oxygen, hardly admits of a doubt. Lie- 

 big gives the results of a series of experi- 

 ments by Lukas on the use of charcoal as 

 a manure^ which seems to corroborate his 

 opinion, From the facts which these chem- 

 ists, however, adduce, it is evident that the 

 beneficial action of charcoal, as a fertilizer, 

 depends upon the presence of other sub- 

 stances besides carbon. Liebig notes {Or- 

 ganic Chem., p. 62) that plants thrive 

 in powdered charcoal, and may be brought 

 to blossom, and bear fruit, if exposed to 

 the influence of the rain and the atmos- 

 phere. Plants do not, however, attain ma- 

 turity under ordinary circumstances in char- 

 coal powder when they are moistened with 

 pure distilled water instead of rain or river 

 water. E-ain water must, therefore, contain 

 within it one of the essentials of vegetable 

 life ; and it has been shown that this is the 

 presence of a compound containing nitro- 

 ll gen; the exclusion of which entirely de- 

 prives humus and charcoal of their influ- 

 ence on vegetation." It is ammonia, to 

 whose presence in rain water Professor Lie- 

 big thus refers, in whose valuable work (p. 

 207) the experiments of Lukas will be 

 found. From these we learn that in a di- 

 vision of a low hothouse, in the Botanic i 

 Garden at Munich, a bed was set gpart for 

 young tropical plants; but instead of beingj 

 filled with tan, as is usually the case, it wasi 

 filled with powdered charcoal, the large' 

 pieces of charcoal having been previously 

 separated by means of a sieve. The heat 

 was conducted by means of a tube of v/hite 

 iron into a hollow space in the bed, and: 

 distributed a gentle warmth, sufficient to! 

 have caused tan to enter into a state of fer- 

 mentation. The plants placed in this bedj 

 of charcoal quickly vegetated and acquired 1 

 a healthy appearance. As always is thej 

 case in such beds, the roots in many of the 

 plants penetrated through the holes in the 

 bottom of the pots, and then spread them- 

 selves out ; but these plants evidently sur- 

 passed in vigour and general luxuriance 

 plants grown in the common way ; for ex- 

 ample, in tan. 



M. Lukas then gives a list of several of 

 the exotic plants upon which charcoal ap- j 

 pears to have produced the most beneficial 

 effects. It appeared also to promote the 

 rapid germination of seeds. lie then pro- 

 ceeded to try the efi'ects of charcoal when 

 mixed with vegetable mould, all of which 

 answered very well. '^The charcoal/' con- 



tinues M. Lukas, " used in these experi- 

 ments was the dust-like powder of charcoal 

 from Firs and Pines. It was found to have 

 most effect when allowed to lie during the 

 winter exposed to the action of the air. 

 In -order to ascertain the effects of difi'erenfc 

 kinds of charcoal, experiments were also 

 made upon that obtained from the hard 

 woods and peat, and also upon animal char- 

 coal ; although I foresaw the probability 

 that none of them could answer so well as 

 that of Pine wood, both on account of its 

 porosity and the ease with which it is de- 

 composed. The action of charcoal consists 

 primarily in ita preserving the parts of 

 plants with which it is in contact, whether 

 they be roots, branches, leaves, &c., un- 

 changed in their vital power for a long 

 space of time, so that the plant obtains 

 time to develop the Organs for its further 

 support and propagation. There can scarce- 

 ly be a doubt, also, that the charcoal un- 

 dergoes decomposition ; for, after being 

 used for five or six years, it becomes a coaly 

 earth. It exercises likewise a favoura- 

 ble influence by absorbing and docompos" 

 ing the matters excreted by the roots of 

 plants, so as to keep the roots free from 

 the putrifying substances, which are often 

 the cause of the death of the spongioles. 

 Every experiment," concludes M. Lukas, 

 "was crowned with success, although plants 

 belonging to a great many dilierent fami- 

 lies were subjected to trial."— (i6zc?.,j). 211 ,) 

 Professor J. F. Johnston {Elm. of Ag. 

 Chem.., p. 142) recognizes the good pro- 

 perties of charcoal as " a valuable mixture 

 with liquid manure, night-soil, farm-yard 

 manure, ammoniacal liquor, or other rich 

 applications to the soil." And as he ob- 

 serves in another place, when speaking of 

 the fertilizing portions of farm-yard drain- 

 age, {Trans. High. Soc. 1846, p. 190,) 

 " The only substance at present known, by 

 which the separation of all the valuable in- 

 gredients from liquid manure can be fully 

 effected, is animal charcoal. A sufficient 

 supply of this substance, when intimately 

 mixed with the liquid manure, will take 

 up nearly the whole of the saline and col- 

 ouring matters it holds in solution^ will car- 

 ry down the substances it holds in suspen- 

 sion, and will leave the water nearly pure* 

 and colourless. Ihe refuse of the prus- 

 siate of potash manufactories will have this- 

 effect, and what remains when ivory-black 

 is digested in spirit of salt (muriatic acid) 



• 



