I860.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



powers of hereditary transmission, dependent 

 upon the degree to which certain peculiarities 

 of character may have been concentrated with- 

 in them. As I have before said, every succes- 

 sive generation " in the line" will possess, in 

 a greater degree, the power of transmitting 

 certain peculiarities ; and immediately such 

 an animal is crossed with a cow which has no 

 such power, in consequeuce of an irregular 

 une of descent, the bull exerts the greatest in- 

 fluence, and the progeny fully partakes of his 

 character. 



The. quality of the produce is improved even 

 more where this difference exists, than if a 

 superior cow had been used. Lord Spencer 

 noticed this many years ago. He says,* " It 

 is admitted by every one that the qualities of 

 the offspring are usually similar to those of the 

 parents, either combining, in various propor- 

 tions, the qualities of both parents, or taking 

 entirely after one. I should say, as regards 

 cattle and sheep, that in most cases the quali- 

 ties of the male parent predominate in the off- 

 spring. I have also observed that the worse 

 bred the female is, the more will this be the 

 case when she is put to a well-bred male." 

 This principle had been previously advocated 

 by Rev. II. Berry in his celebrated Prize Es- 

 say on Breeding. It is therefore as important 

 to see the parents of the bull as the animal it- 

 self; and no one pretending to .any degree of 

 careful breeding should neglect this point. 

 Here we again observe the value of pedigree, 

 which is so justly appreciated by short-horn 

 breeders, who well know that any taint in the 

 descent often reappears after several genera- 

 tions, to the prejudice of the stock. 



An error is frequently committed by breed- 

 ers of stock of medium merit, from not being 

 particular as to the bull first used for their 

 heifers, considering that as an heifer's calf is 

 not generally desirable for stock, so it is not 

 important to select a good bull. There is, how- 

 ever, little doubt but that the character of the 

 bull first used gives an impress to the entire 

 produce of that animal, even although later 

 claves are got by other bulls. The temper of 

 the bull should not be overlooked, for it is es- 

 tablished beyond all doubt that this is heredi- 

 tary in the stock, and it influences considera- 

 ble difference on the tractability, as well as the 

 disposition for fattening, of all the descend- 

 ants. 



[To be Continued.] 

 * Journal of the M. A. S., vol. i., p. 24. 



Hints on Seed Sowtng. — A correspondent 

 of the Gardener's Chronicle says: — "All flat 

 6eeds should be sown sideways, for, if laid flat 

 on the ground they are apt to rot; and if this 

 misfortune does not befall them, they never 1 

 germinate so readily as those placed sideways.) 

 This accounts for so many failures amongst i 

 gourds, melons, cucumbers, &c. I 



659 



From Highland and AgricuVl Journal of Scotland. 



The Absorbing Powers of Soils,, and of 

 Roots of Plants for Manures. 



BY R. RUSSELL, F. R. S. E. 



Two remarkable papers on the above sub- 

 jects have recently appeared, which are well 

 worthy of attention — one in the American 

 Journal of Science for July, by W. S. 

 Johnson, Yale College ;* the other by M. 

 F. Brustlein, in the Annates de Chimie et 

 de Physique for June. Both authors go 

 over nearly the same ground, but the con- 

 clusions at which they arrive are very dif- 

 ferent in some respects. The paper by the 

 last-mentioned author being the most ori- 

 ginal of the two, and throwing an entirely 

 new light on the nature of the absorbing 

 power of soils, we shall first direct the at- 

 tention of our readers to the important 

 truths which it reveals. 



The experiments of Way, recorded in the 

 1 1 tli and 13th vols, of the Journal of the 

 Royal Agricultural Society, made us ac- 

 quainted with many curious and interesting 

 facts regarding the powers that certain soils 

 possess for retaining ammonia, as well as 

 other substances forming the food of plants. 

 These have been repeated by many other 

 eminent chemists, which not only confirmed 

 their accuracy, but seemed to homologate 

 the more important theoretical conclusions 

 at which he had arrived. It appears to us, 

 however, that M. Brustlein has been suc- 

 cessful in showing that the nature of the 

 absorbing quality of soils is not due to the 

 formation of compounds having little solu- 

 bility, but is entirely due to the mere physi- 

 cal conditions of the soil. 



Professor Way, as is well known, found 

 that soluble salts of ammonia, or potash, in 

 filtering through argillaceous soils, are de- 

 composed. The bases of these salts are re- 

 tained by the soil in an almost insoluble 

 state, while the most of the acid is found 

 in the filtered water, combined with lime or 

 soda. The rapidity of the absorption of 

 the alkaline substances by the soil is such 

 as to resemble the ordinary union between 

 an acid and an alkali. Different soils are ope- 

 rated upon, and it was found that all soils 

 capable of profitable cultivation possessed 

 the property in question, in a greater or less 

 degree. Sand, however, did not absorb alka- 

 line substances, neither did organic matters 

 [have the power of decomposing salts of ara- 



I * November No. South. Planter, 1858, p. 674. 



