AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
371 
GRAINS Or FO'IATO STARCH. GRAINS OF RICE STARCH. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
Something More About Starch. 
The article upon starch in the October num¬ 
ber opens a subject upon which much that is in¬ 
structive may be said. The readers of the Agri¬ 
culturist have already been told where starch 
comes from, how it appears under the micros¬ 
cope, what it consists of chemically, and how it 
is obtained separate from other vegetable pro¬ 
ducts and prepared for use. The next inquiry- 
may be 
How Starch is formed .—Plants alone produce it; 
and there are perhaps no plants which do not pro¬ 
duce more or less standi, or something answer¬ 
ing to it, and of the same nature. Sea-weeds, 
and such plants as the Iceland Moss produce in¬ 
stead a kind of jelly ; but this is about the same 
as starch is, after it has* been dissolved in hot 
water. One botanist has defined a plant to he, 
“an organized being which produces starch.” 
Starch is made out of the nourishing juice or pre¬ 
pared sap of plants; it is merely this in a solid 
form. The magnified grains of potato starch, 
figured in the October Agriculturist, which we 
have introduced again above, show how they 
were made. Notice the delicate lines that encir¬ 
cle one another, and successively surround a point 
which is generally near to one end of the grain. 
'ITiis is the nucleus, the beginning of the grain 
when it was a minute speck ; and the encircling 
lines mark the layers, like the coats of an onion, 
of which the grain is built up. First, a little solid 
speck is formed and on this, layer after layer of 
nourishing matter is deposited from the sap ; arid 
so the starch-grain grows up to its full size 
When starch is put into hot water, the grains do 
not exactly dissolve, but the layers soften, swell 
up immensely, and form a kind of jelly. This 
jelly is of the same nature as the mucilage or 
nourishing part of the sap, which the plant made 
the starch of. 
Where does this mucilage, this prepared ma¬ 
terial of the starch come from 1 The plant makes 
it out of air and water—i. e., out of carbonic acid 
and water, which it takes in by its roots and its 
leaves. As already stated, starch is composed of 
12 parls of carbon (charcoal./. 10 of hydrogen, and 
10 of oxygen ; the last two form water; so we 
may say that starch consists of carbon and water. 
Now plants absorb the water abundantly from the 
ground by their roots, and also from the air by 
their leaves. The other material of starch, i. e. 
the carbon (or charcoal!, comes from the carbonic 
acid of the air Carbonic acid gas, which makes 
up a small part of the atmosphere (any large 
amount would be injurious), consists of carbon 
(coal) united to oxygen. To make starch, or the 
prepared materials of starch, the plant has only to 
get rid of the oxygen of some carbonic acid, and to 
combine its carbon, in some peculiar way, with the 
water. To do this, the plant must have the as¬ 
sistance of the sun ; and one great ohject of the 
vast amount, of sunshine which is poured upon 
field and forest is, to enable plants to do this work. 
This they do in their foliage, or other green parts, 
and in these only when they are acted upon by 
the suri. Then the leaves are constantly decom¬ 
posing the carbonic acid gas they are drinking in 
from the air, giving back its oxygen gas pure to 
the air, and combining its carbon with the hydro¬ 
gen and oxygen of the water, in a way that is 
never done anywhere else. That is, they are di¬ 
gesting or assimilating air and water into vegeta¬ 
ble matter, of whic.li starch is one of the common¬ 
est forms. Air and water are the raw materials; 
ihe light of the sun supplies the motive power; veg¬ 
etable matter is the manufactured substance; and 
starch is one of the completed products —one of 
the articles into which the manufacture is worked up. 
What it is for, that is, what the plant does with 
starch, may be considered another time. 
Farina. 
-a*-#-—wHfc-fc*--♦—- 
Hyacinths, tulips, jonquils, crocuses and other 
bulbs are frequently grown, or rather flowered, in 
glasses containing water only. They do not 
form new bulbs, so that after blooming they must 
either be planted out for offsets, or better thrown 
aside for healthy bulbs grown in the ordinary 
way. 
Glasses like the above, and of other forms, 
some transparent and others blue or green, are 
obtained of glass dealers, or seedsmen, at 12£ 
to 25 cents each. They are known as “ Hyacinth 
Gl'asses,” and whatever shape they are at the bot¬ 
tom, the top must have the form of a saucer or 
bowl to hold the bulb and allow the roots to ex¬ 
tend into the water. 
Having filled the glasses with pure rain water, 
place the bulbs in them so that the lower surface 
shall just touch the water. Dry bulbs which have 
made no growth may be taken, or those which 
have been previously potted and have made sev¬ 
eral inches of root. After putting them in glasses 
it is better to place them in a moderately cool 
and dark, but dry room, for a week or ten days, 
when they may be brought to the parlor, or placed 
in a green-house, where they will grow rapidly, 
and in a few weeks commence blooming. The 
water should be changed about once a week, or 
as alien as it becomes turbid. Wires are some¬ 
times fastened around the neck of the glass, and 
run tip, to which the flower-stalk may be fastened 
for support. A very cheap supply of beautiful 
flowers may thus be secured in the house during 
the entire winter. 
Ladies and Gentlemen going 1 up and 
down stairs, Walking, and other items 
of Deportment. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist: 
Many of us “Young Girls ” have been greatly 
instructed by your recent articles on Setting out 
the Table and other hints on deportment, for not 
a few of us have had as little opportunity for 
learning elsewhere, as had the “young house¬ 
keeper,” who first called for aid in the July num¬ 
ber. May we not from time to time propose 
further questions to Anna Hope, or other cor¬ 
respondents—such for example as I have written 
above 1 If you will tell us how gentlemen do al¬ 
so, it will not only help us to instruct our broth¬ 
ers, but also let us know what to expect of men, 
and thus render us less embarrassed. I would 
ask more, but these are perhaps more than my 
share, and I will leave others fo send in more 
queries Jane. 
Vf--Ind., Nov. Gth, 1858. 
(We shall he very happy to receive queries in 
regard to deportment, and will endeavor to put 
them into the hands of those fully competent to 
answer them. The above we submitted to Anna 
Hone, and her reply follows.— Ed.] 
The polite usage ” in regard to ascending 
stairs is a somewhat mooted question. Some 
persons think it always the better way for the 
gentleman to precede the lady both in ascending 
and descending. Others say nothing is more ab¬ 
surd ihan to do this. Precedence should always 
he given to those to whom we owe respect, or 
are accustomed to show it, consequently when 
the gentleman does not ascend with the lady, he 
should follow her, not far behind, but as closely 
as be conveniently can. It is often proper to 
offer the arm to a lady in going up stairs. If there 
are several ladies, assist the eldest, or the most 
feeble, or the one that for any reason has a spec¬ 
ial claim upon attention. The gentleman will 
give the lady the side of the stairs next the bal¬ 
usters, so that if she needs to use the railing she 
may be able to do so. 
In descending stairs the same rules ot prece¬ 
dence may be observed—the gentleman following 
the lady at a convenient distance. 
If a lady and gentleman who are strangers meet 
at the foot of a flight of stairs, the lady may, if 
she choses, bow to the gentleman to ascend be¬ 
fore her. He of course bows courteously to her 
as he passes up. 
If a lady and gentleman meet on a public stairs, 
or at a passage-way, he moves sufficiently to one 
side to permit her to pass readily, touching his 
hat as he does so. Should a lady be entering the 
parlor or Auiing-hall of a hotel, either alone or in 
