t 
SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
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salts in the ash of oak bark , 3 per cent, of phosphates of 
lime and magnesia ; G6 per cent, of carbonate do ; 1 1-2 
per cent, of silica; and 2 percent, o.xide of iron, Mr, 
Mills says that ‘'one load of oak bark laid in aheap 
i and rotted after tanners have used it, will do more 
service to stiff cold land, and its effects will last longer 
than two loads of the richest dung,” This is probably 
an exaggeration. Every animal substance mixed 
with bark greatly increases its value. Dry bark, satu- 
rated with chamber slops, soap suds, or mixed with the 
materials that may be had at the garden house, becomes 
an excellent manure. Everything of the kind ought to be 
saved witli the greatest care by all who have any land to 
cultivate, or fruit trees to look after. Lime in which there 
i is more or less hair is better for agricultural purposes than 
a^pure article. Dry hair, like that of hogs and cattle, is 
worth its weight in Peruvian guano ; or !^3 per 100 lbs, 
L. 
POISONOUS FUNGI. 
Excessive rains during the spring and summer, and 
humidity of soil and atmosphere resulting therefrom, often 
produce an unusual amount of poisonous fungi to be 
eaten by cattle, hogs, deer and other animals. That 
cattle are very fond of the esculent and healthy species of 
this numerous tribe of plants is a fact very generally 
known; and that they should mistake poisonous varieties 
where they abound, for such as are not poisonous, is as na 
tural as it is common. Most readers know how fond the 
Romans were of mushrooms; and botanists inform us 
that no fewer than thirty species of agaricus are eaten in 
Russsia at this time. Some of these are not free from poison; 
for tobacco is not_the only poisonous plant that man 
knowingly and habitually puts into his mouth. Like 
ourselves, our live stock are able to consume a little poison 
with their daily food with no perceptible inconvenience; 
but when they indulge their apetites to excess, disease 
and death follo w as the natural results. They find poison- 
ous mushrooms mostly in woods and swamps, and should 
be kept out of such infected ranges during the prevalence 
of hot weather when fungals grow with the greatest luxuri- 
ance. 
Dr, Chritison gives the following general directions 
for distinguishing the esculent from the poisonous varie- 
ties . “It appears that most fungi which have a warty 
cap, more especially fragments of a membrane adhering 
to their upper surface, are poisonous. Heavy fungi which 
have an unpleasant odor, especially if they emerge from a 
vulva or bag, are also generally hurtful. Those which 
grow in woods and shady places are rarely esculent, but 
most are unwholesome ; and if they are moist on the sur- 
face they should be avoided. All those which grow in 
tufts or clusters from the trunks or stumps of trees ought 
likewise be shunned. A sure test of a poisonous fungus 
is astringent or styptic taste, and perhaps also a disagree- 
able, but certainly a pungent odor. Those, the substance 
of which becomes blue soon after being cut, are invariably 
poisonous. Agarics of an orange or rose red color and 
boleti, which are coriaceous or corky in texture, or which 
have a membraneous collar round the stem are also unsafe. 
These rules for knowing deleterious fungi seem to rest on 
fact and experience ; but they will not enable the collec- 
tor to recognize every poisonous species.” , 
Poisonous mushrooms, in cooking, disengage so much 
sulphuretted hydrogen gas that it will tarnish a silver 
spoon or silver coin brought in contact with the seething 
vegetable; and persons having little knowledge of edible 
fungi cannot be too careful to avoid mistakes in a matter of 
so much importance. In cases of doubt, it is safe to ab- 
stain from eating any fungals whatever. 
The parasitic fungi that grow on corn, wheat, oats, rye 
and barley are even more injurious to man and beast than 
any of the agaric genus. The writer has noticed that corn 
is often affected to an unusual degree with the large 
black fungus nearly allied to smut in wheat and oats. 
All these microscopic fungi that prey on cereals are poison- 
ous ; as is also ergot or “horned rye.” In securing a corn 
crop, whether fodder, stalks or ears, care should be taken 
not to contaminate either with the black dust of the fun- 
gus alluded to. The diseased part is too prominent not 
to be noticed, and it should be cut or broken off and 
thrown away. Hundreds of experiments have estab- 
lished the fact that the seeds of the uredo segetum 
adhere to the seeds of grain, such as corn, wheat, oats 
and barley, and are planted and propagated with 
them. Hence the value of washing all seeds of the cereal 
grasses in a strong solution of blue stone (sulphate of cop- 
per) or of common salt before planting. Recently slaked 
lime, or water saturated with caustic lime is fatal to the 
vitality of all sporules of this character. Care should be 
had not to allow seed grain to remain too long in any 
steep to kiil smut, as the brine may penetrate the oily 
covering of the seed and destroy its germ. We have 
often seen seed wheat injured, and sometimes wholly 
ruined by being too long in some mineral steep. Three 
or four hours are long enough, with good washing. 
It is not known how long the seeds of these pajrasitic 
seed will live in or on the ground; but they have been 
planted in burnt soil under circumstances that leave no 
doubt of their being taken up by the roots of wheat and 
maize, and conveyed to the points where the fungus mul- 
tiplies its species. Its fecundity is amazing, but, fortun- 
ately, it does not thrive except in peculiar circumstances 
and condiuons. Clean culture, and the free circulation of 
dry air operate against every species of blight. Humidity 
and heat favor the increase of these vegetable pests. Mil- 
dew, mould in bread, and dry rot in timber are parasitic 
plants closely allied to smut ^nd rust on wheat and oats. 
Even animals nourish parasitic plants as well as parasitic 
animals, like lice and ticks. It would almost appear to 
be a law of nature that the smaller the individual animal 
or plant the greater its power of reproduction to compen- 
sate for its feebleness. Where a slight change of tempera- 
ture, or of moisture destroys millions of living germs, 
millions are shortly produced by a single germ, where 
the conditions favor such a result, All the conditions 
favorable and adverse to vitality, whether in the plants 
we cultivate, or in their enemies, are subjects worthy 
of our best consideration. L. 
