652 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[November 



extend deeply into the soil; and when the 

 plants have advanced considerably in growth, 

 to plough them in, and sow a crop of some 

 kind of grain. In this way the nutritive 

 matter from the deeper, part of the soil is 

 brought within reach of the roots of the 

 'grain crop. Manuring with sea-weecU is 

 also. resorted to in cases where they are ac- 

 cessible. They supply abundance of car- 

 bonate, phosphate, and sulphate of lime, be- 

 sides chloride of sodium. There are con- 

 siderable differences in their chemical com- 

 position; thus, while in Laminaria saccha- 

 rina, alkaline carbonates, potash, and iodine, 

 predominate; in Fucus vesiculosus and- ser- 

 ratus, sulphates and soda are in excess, and 

 iodine is less abundant. In the cultivation 

 of the Coco-nut Palm, Mr. IvPNab finds 



Liquid Manures have of late years 

 been much employed, and the formation 

 of ' tanks for their reception has been 

 strongly recommended, in which the am- 

 monia is fixed by the addition of sulphuric 

 acid or charcoal. They can be applied after 

 vegetation has advanced, and they are in a 

 state to be made at once available to the 

 crop. More recently some have advocated 

 a system of steeping seeds and grains in 

 certain solutions before sowing them. Pro- 

 fessor Johnston suggests a mixture of phos- 

 phate of soda, sulphate of magnesia, nitrate 

 of potash, common salt, and sulphate of 

 ammonia (1 ft. of each), in ten gallons of 

 water, to steep 300 fbs. of seeds, which are 

 to be afterwards dried with gypsum or 

 quicklime. 



that sea-weeds act very beneficially. 



The following experiment, conducted by Mr. Wilson, at Knock, near Larges, shows 

 the mode of estimating the effects of manures. The land was a piece of three-year old 

 pasture, of uniform quality. It was divided into ten lots, and these were treated with 

 different kinds of manure. The quantity of well-made hay is given in pounds: — 



Produce Rate 

 per Lot. per Acre. 



Lot 1 .—Left untouched, 420 3360 



2.— 2^ barrels Irish quicklime, , 602 4816 



" 3. — 20 cwt. Lime of gas-works, - 651 5208 



" 4. — 4h cwt. Wood charcoal powder, 665..... ,5320 



" . 5.— 2~ bushels Bone-dust, 693...* 5544 



6. — 18 lbs. Nitrate of potash, 742. 5936 



7. — 20 lbs. Nitrate of soda,. , 784 * 6272 



' ; 8.— 2$ bolls Soot,., 819 6552 



9.— 28 lbs. Sulphate of Ammonia, 874 6776 



i; 10. — 100 gallons Ammoniacal liquor of gas-works. ) 



5° TweddelTs hydrometer... . . £ 



945 7560 



The value of each application was the same, 

 all were applied at the same time, and the 

 grass also was cut at the same time. 



Plants are thus employed to form from 

 the atmosphere and soil those organic pro- 

 ducts which are requisite for the nourish- 

 ment of man and animals. While an ani- 

 mal consumes carbon so as to form carbonic 

 acid, gives off ammonia in various excre- 

 tions, transforms organized into mineral 

 matters and restores its elements to air and 

 earth; a plant, on the other hand, fixes car- 

 bon in its substance and gives off' oxygen, 

 forms from ammonia solid compounds, trans- 

 forms mineral into organized matters, and 

 derives its elements from the air and earth. 

 Thus, says Dumas, what the atmosphere and 

 soil yield to plants, plants yield to animals, 

 and animals return to the air and earth, a 

 constant round in which matter merely 



changes its place and form.* — Balfour's 

 Botany. 



* For fuller particulars as to the food of plants, 

 analyses of plants, soils, manures, and rotation 

 •of crops, see Johnston's Lectures on Agricultural 

 Chemisty; Liebig's Works ; Dumas on Organic 

 Natnre; Davy's Agricultural Chemistry, by Shier ; 

 Mulder's Chemistry of Organic Bodies, trans- 

 lated by Fromberg ; and various Papers in the 

 Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, 1844-46; Saus- 

 sure : s Works ; Daubeny on Rotation of Crops, 

 Phil. Trans. 1845; Boussingault, Economie 

 Rurale. 



Silver and Silver- Plated Articles— -The 

 readiest mode of cleaning these articles, is 

 to wipe them over with a weak solution of 

 liquid ammonia. This readily removes the 

 sulphide, and no rubbing, or scarcely any is 

 required. The same agent will be found use- 

 ful in cleaning gold chains and jewelry. 



