MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
GROWTH OF PLANTS FROM SEED. 
Written for Moore’s Kural New-Yorker. 
knowledge and wisdom 
It lias been truly said that a living plant is a 
perpetual miracle; and yet, it is so common, so 
constantly before us that it excites no wonder, and 
too little investigation. Why the young should 
leave the country — the broad, free country — the 
Almighty’s great laboratory—and confine them¬ 
selves to cities, and commerce, and dull ledgers, or 
even to the professions of law or medicine, to satisfy 
the cravings of an inquiring mind, is to us a per¬ 
petual wonder. Every tree, every plant, is a curi¬ 
ous and wonderful evidence of creative wisdom, 
and furnishes subjects for the closest thought, and 
the most careful investigation. The circulation of 
the sap; the influence of the leaves upon this cir¬ 
culation; the manner in which the roots select 
from the soil those elements necessary to the growth 
of the tree, so that the most delicious fruits and the 
most poisonous plants grow side by side, and draw 
their nourishment from the same soil; the growth 
of plants from seed; these, and many other things, 
common yet mysterious, demand the attention of 
every lover of nature. For the benefit of our 
youthful readers we will give a few facts on these 
subjects, commencing with the growth of plants 
from seed. This, some one may be ready to say is 
a very simple thing; if you put a seed in the ground 
in the spring, when the sun shines warm, and the 
air is balmy, and the showers are frequent to moist¬ 
en the earth, seed cannot help growing. True 
enough, it is all simple, and yet few understand the 
process of nature, and the wisest cannot tell the 
the win/ and the wherefore of the most simple of 
nature’s laws. 
A plant consists of two principal parts, the rcot 
and the stem, the root growing downwards into the^ 
soil, the stem upwards into the air and sunlight.— 
These parts are subdivided for practical purposes, 
the first into the main root, lateral roots, rootlets, 
and spongioles, the last into branches, leaves, buds, 
blossoms, Ac. The embryo, or the young plant in 
its infancy, is contained in tho seed, as all must 
have noticed in examining peas, be8iis, and most 
other seeds, particularly after they have become 
« sprouted .as it is called, that is after the germ of 
the young plant has grown somewhat. But this 
embryo plant or tree has no roots, when enveloped 
in the seed, and it can form uo roots until it has 
made some growth, flow is this growth to be 
made, with no roots to obtain nourishment from 
the soil? The nourishing material, or prepared 
food is always storod up in the seed, sometimes in 
the embryo itself and sometimes around it 
If we strip off the ^ CT's. 
coats from the scod O—Y 
of the squash or / S 
pumpkin, we find i/ \V A Ul \r^\\ 
nothing but the j \ 
embryo within, j /> " ■ 
consisting princi- 1/ 
cipally of tho two ’ 
large seed leaves. ’Iff ✓—^ 
These contain a || Kj \ 
good supply of . I V% /W 
nourishing matter, >/ \ \ '| 
wisdom—that knowledge is valueless without wis¬ 
dom as its proper helmsman and guide. And who 
has not observed on different occasions, even from 
persons occupying a public position, its exemplifi¬ 
cation either in manner or matters, in time or 
occasion. 
Two incidents relating to the time, manner, and 
occasion, which occurred at church in my early 
boyhood are notable examples of wisdom in the 
one and its absence in the other. It was upon a 
warm summer’s day when neither the zeal of the 
clergyman nor the importance of the subject served 
to keep aloof the drowsiness of the hardy yeo¬ 
manry who were his hearers, and, especially, one 
brother G., who, when at church, was the subject 
of frequent surrenders to Morpheus, and on this 
occasion had added to it the snoring accompany- 
menk The clergyman halted in his discourse, and 
speaking in a tone of thunder, said, “Come Brother 
G. do wake up,”—Brother G. and his co-delinquents 
evincing from appearance an unpleasant dose for 
the ailment as well as the time and manner of the 
prescription. Upon another like occasion at another 
church soon afterwards, tho clergyman observing 
several of the auditors sleeping, said in his usual 
tone of voice, “as I perceive some of the congre¬ 
gation are weary, I will wait a moment;” and sat 
down in his desk— the consequent stillness at once 
aroused the sleepers, and while bewildered by the 
stillness and novelty of the scene, the clergyman 
quietly arose and proceeded in his usual manner 
with his discourse. The effect was complete; all 
were pleased, and the medicine and ministration 
was really a luxury, and it is needless to say, that 
the entire sermon was declared by his auditors 
most excellent S. N. IIoi.mf.p. 
Syracuse, N. Y., 1858. 
the war, but was defeated in Moldavia by Suwarrow 
and the Prince of Coburg, and made peace with 
Austria in 1791, and the next year with Russia. In 
1798, Egypt was invaded by the French, who were 
defeated by the English and compelled to evacuate 
the country in 1801. In 1807, a British fleet passed 
the Dardanelles, and blockaded Constantinople for 
a while, but was forced to retire. Tho same year a 
revolution occurred at Constantinople, and Selim 
was deposed and Mustapha IV. succeeded, lie 
concluded a peace with Russia. In 1808, he was 
besieged in his palace by the Janissaries, and lost 
his life in the conflict Selim, his predecessor was 
also murdered in this insurrection. In 1808, Mah¬ 
moud, or Mahomet V., was raised to the throne by 
the insurrectionists who had deposed his two pre¬ 
decessors. He renewed the war with Russia. In 
1811, the Turks were defeated at Lafesat, and in 
1812 they made peace with Russia and Great Britain. 
The war with Russia, in which the Allies engaged [ 
is so recent our readers are familiar with its events. 
“Constantinople, a view of which is presented 
above, is situated on the narrow strait between the 
Black Sea and the Sea of Marmora, and commands 
the passage from the Mediterranean to the East. ft 
has been a city of note for nearly two thousand 
years. Its ancient name was Byzantium. In the 
year 196, it was taken from Niger by Severus, after 
a siege of three years. In 672, it was besieged 
five months by the Turks. In 822, it was again be¬ 
sieged by the usurper, Thomas. In 1204, it was 
besieged and taken by the Crusaders. And the 
next year, Baldwin I., Emperor of Constantinople, 
was taken prisoner by the King of the Bulgarians. 
In 1453, Constantinople was taken by Mahomet II., 
and the Greek empire destroyed. In 1669, Candia 
was taken by the Turks after a blockade of twenty 
years, and a siege of twenty-nine months. 
In 1687 Solyman II. reigned, and AchmetH. in 
1691. Mustapha II. made war upon Hungary in 
1697, but was forced to conclude a peace and to 
cede Transylvanif, the Morca, and Azof. Achmet 
SOMETHING ABOUT SCHOOLS. 
Carbon is surely a kind of sylph, or sprite, and 
that, too, of no ordinary sort. The caterpillar 
changes its coat, and becomes the gorgeous butter¬ 
fly, and this astonishing transformation is the theme 
of the fabulists. Far more wonderful, however, is 
the change which takes place in a piece of charcoal. 
From a black, opaque, and almost worthless mate¬ 
rial, it changes to a brilliant gem—the diamond, 
which even the stars are likened to. It certainly 
appears incredible that the diamond, so transcen- 
dently beautiful, sparkling with more brilliancy 
than the dew-drop at sunrise, should be nothing 
else than a bit of charcoal, but so it is. Not here, 
however, does the chameleon power of carbon rest, 
for by another change it becomes invisible. In 
such a stalK 111 
By another change it becomes the thick, heavy 
flakes of smoke which we see roll out of ill-con¬ 
structed flues—the “blacks” of London and Bir¬ 
mingham. Coal is but itnpurc carbon, hence it is 
often spoken of as the “ black diamond,” signifying, 
however, as much the intrinsic value of coal to 
man as its chemical relationship to the sparkling 
gem. 
How the world would fare without carbon, it 
would be difficult to say, for it forms the major 
part of the vegetable and animal creation. Tallow 
is white, but it is composed of nearly all charcoal 
(that is, carbon,) and the elements of water. So 
also with starch, sugar, spirit, gas, chalk, shells, 
bones—all contain carbon; they would, in fact, 
cease to exist without it. If we make a mixture 
of sulphuric acid and sugar, a volcanic commotion 
ensues. When all is over, and the black residue 
washed, it is found to consist of nearly pure 
charcoal (or c/iarbon, as the chemists in France 
call it,) or carbon, as the English write it—having 
a dislike to the h. The purest carbon or charcoal 
with which the chemists are acquainted is the dia¬ 
mond; but even this valuable stone when burned 
shows by its ashes that it is of vegetable origin.— 
Looking at carbon, therefore, either in its black or 
white condition, and knowing that it exists in the 
atmosphere around us in an invisible state, we need 
not any knowledge of chemistry or physics to ena¬ 
ble us to come to the conclusion that few substances 
exhibit the infinite power of the Creator more than 
carbon.— Septimus Piesse, in Scientific American. 
We know a man who last summer hired four 
colts pastured on a farm, some five miles distant, j 
At least once in two weeks he got into a wagon 
and drovo over to see how his juvenile horses 
fared. He made minute inquiries of the keeper as 
to their health, their watering, Ac., he himself ex¬ 
amined the condition of the pasture, and when a 
dry season came on, made special arrangements to 
have a daily allowance of meal, and he was careful 
to know that this was regularly supplied. 
This man had four children attending school 
kept in a small building erected at the cross-roads. 
Around this building on three sides is a space of 
land six feet wide; the fourth side is on a line with 
the street. There Is not a nhade in sight of tho 
building. Of the interior of the school house, we 
need not speak. We wish to state one fact only.— 
This owner of those colts, and the father of those 
children, has never been in that school house to 
inquire after the comfort, health, or mental food 
daily dealt out to his offspring. In the latter part 
of the summer we chanced to ask, “Who teaches 
your school?” his reply was, “he did not know, 
he believed her name was Parker, but he had no 
time to look after school matters. — American Agri¬ 
culturist. 
THE TARANTULA AND ITS DEADLY ENEMY. 
Some of our readers may have heard of the 
tenacity with which the venomous tarantula is pur¬ 
sued by an inveterate enemy, in the form of a huge 
wasp—invariably resulting in the defeat and death 
of the former. We were an eye-witness to one of 
these conflicts last week, while on a ramble among 
the adjacent hills. This is tho season when the 
poisonous tarantula leaves his well-fasliioned abode 
to perambulate the dusty roads aiul the smooth 
paths so often trod by the industrious miners, and 
«bont their haunts a Aov.r so may be seen nny 
day of this hideous enlargement of the spider-race, 
within a circuit of a few yards, leisurely wending 
their way along the roads and bye-ways. Often 
have we marked, with attentive curiosity, his awk¬ 
ward gait while lifting his long, unwieldy legs 
above tho short blades of grass, and wondered for 
what uses and purposes this ugly little monster was 
placed upon this beautiful globe. 
While attentively watching the motions of one 
of these insects during our walk, we were much 
surprised to see the object of our attraction sud¬ 
denly stop short in his wanderings, and raise itself 
up to its full height, as though watching the com¬ 
ing of some unwelcome visitor. We at first sup- 
Written for Moore’s Rnral New-Yorker 
PLEASURES OF TEACHING. 
The mind is the intelligent power in man, by 
which he desires, purposes and wills,—the life and 
ornament of this clayey tabernacle, the most pre¬ 
cious gift of God. By it we enjoy the works of 
nature, enjoy and produce the works of art, grace 
the social circle, and even commune with our 
Maker. This noble, God-like power in man has, 
like the tenament it inhabits, its successive periods 
of infancy, youth and age, and as the clay in the 
hand of the potter may be moulded into any shape 
or form he pleases, so the mind takes its cast from 
surrounding influences during the period of infancy 
and youth. As from the same clay some vessels 
arc made to honor and some to dishonor, so from 
minds, originally the same, there results those dif¬ 
fering widely in every respect Then how enno¬ 
bling and responsible the task of guiding the 
youthful mind, of training it to seek the good and 
reject the evil. It needs much pruning and care¬ 
ful watching to incline it in the right direction; 
and, therefore, those to whom it is entrusted, should 
be persons of wisdom, of correct principle, and 
good habits, for mind is affected by example, as 
well as by precept. They should be persons who 
aim high, who seek to accomplish something in 
the world, who will inspire the mind with lofty 
thoughts, and a laudable ambition; lead it to in¬ 
vestigate difficult and intricate subjects, so that the 
whole tide of opposition, from the groveling and 
visionary, cannot turn it from pursuing after 
knowledge and truth. The pupil will soon stand 
in the place of the teacher; and the principles he 
has exemplified will again be taught. 
Thus we see no good or evil principle that has 
been given to the world can again be recalled, but 
goes on increasing like the circles formed by cast¬ 
ing a pebble upon the ocean, until time is lost in 
eternity. How responsible, then, the position of 
him whose task it is to train the child, to feed his 
hungry soul with pure knowledge, to expand his 
reason, and correct his faults, and raise his mind 
from self, and sense, and low desires, and teach him 
what it is to be a mam But with all its responsi¬ 
bilities it is also a very pleasant task, pleasant to 
see the youthful mind expanding day by day, and 
grasping after knowledge. What teacher that has 
seen the eye of childhood sparkle with intelligence 
after his efforts to inculcate some new principle have 
been crowned with success, does not congratulate 
himself that he is a teacher; and when years 
have passed by and those who were the subjects of 
his care have gone forth to battle with the storms of 
life, how does it cheer his heart to see them exert¬ 
ing their influence for good, and carrying out the 
principle which it was his province to instil into 
their minds. Then let no one falter in his path, 
because his lot may seem to be a hard one, for the 
faithful teacher will surely receive his reward. 
Newark, N. Y., 1858. Jennie Aiken. 
sweet taste, and a J a 'A 
their size. These 1 J? | \\ 
seed leaves are ^ | ) | 
soon relieved of the II I ft 
nourishment by the /Jr ft 
demands ofthe /# if 
growing plant, and Az’C \ I 
expand into green .^2,1I 
leaves. The peach, sf J[ V |J 
and particularly' / C7 f 
the almond, shows I J . if rV- r\ *'\ 
the same thing. It If /A A \ 
is this nourishment I 
stored away in the TUE BEAN> 
seed of the almond that makes it so desirable as a 
nut, which all Ruralists, young and old, delight in 
eating. The Bean affords a still better illustration, 
and ono familiar to most of our readers. In this 
the cotyledons, or seed leaves, (fig. l,) are so thick, 
containing such an amount of nourishment, that 
althouglitheyarcrais- 
(Cy ] cd out of ground, fig. 
Wf' J ‘A and turn greenish, 
they n e v e r become 
and soon 
^yi/ 'Ss^J^^drop off. They are 
v/rN * the magazines of food 
XVI for the young plant, 
'%! and appear so gorged 
^ that they are unfitted 
to perform the work 
of leaves. This office 
is first performed by 
the succeeding pair 
(fig. 3) which makes a 
rapid growth from 
the abundant nourish- 
ment contained in the 
tr •’^ t^ thick seed-leaves. 
if This is carried still 
y M \ further in the Pea, 
fj 2 n (fig. i and 2.) The 
U cotyledon, (the per¬ 
il ishable lobes of tho 
"1# B seed,) which make 
J* H nearly the whole 
HI ’ bulk, are so thickened 
|r\ as to become nearly 
round. They have no 
Ik likeness to leaves, and 
A no power of fulfilling 
such an office. They 
the pea. never grow tliem- 
I selves, but supply abundant nourishment to the 
I forming stem. Generally the short stemlet of tho 
1 ! embryo, shown at the bottom of fig. 1, lengthens 
* I but very little, and so tho seed remains under 
’ j ground, as all our young readers know who have 
I planted peas. The leaves of the first joint or two 
are imperfect as seen in fig. 2, but full developed 
leaves soon follow. We are indebted to Gray's 
Botany for the engravings illustrating this article. 
We shall continue the subject 
OFFICE OF EDUCATION 
he, when he comes upon the stage. His inherent 
energies are slumbering, and must bo aroused; his 
affections are dormant, and must be enkindled; his 
mind is imprisoned in the flesh, and must be edu¬ 
cated, or led out. All the germs of power are wrap¬ 
ped up in his little frail being, but they are all 
latent and must be developed in order to assert 
their power. Add a general education, not of the 
intellect only, but of the whole being—body, mind 
and head—including business, literature, esthetics 
and religion—is the only process of developing his 
complicated organism to secure his highest well¬ 
being and happiness, and prepare him for the vari¬ 
ous duties, 
passed quickly near, hovering on the wing over his 
trembling victim, the much dreaded tarantula.— 
Like some bird of prey, the wasp remained thus 
poised a moment, and then, quick as thought, 
darted down upon his enemy, and stung him many 
times with great rapidity. The tarantula, smarting 
under the pain, began a retreat with all the speed 
of which he was capable, but the wasp hung over 
him with revengeful tenacity, and again and again 
struck him with his venomous sting. Gradually 
the flight of the tarantula became slower and more 
irregular, and at length, under the repeated 
thrusts of his conqueror, he died, biting the grass 
with his terrible fangs. The wasp now seized his 
enemy, and commenced dragging him away; with 
what intent we could not, as business called us 
thence, at that time discover. 
The wasp whose attacks upon the tarantula are 
so fatal, has a long, slim, glossy, black body, yel¬ 
low wings, and is armed with a very sharp, long, 
thorn-like sting, which may be seen protruding as 
it flies. It fears not the presence of man or beast 
when in pursuit of his enemy. —Mariposa (Cal.) 
Democrat. 
relations and trials of this world, and 
for the wider sphere and higher life of the world to 
come. 
To unfold the gems of thought and feeling, to 
enlighten the mind, direct the affections, cultivate 
pure principles and form good habits; to develop 
character in beautiful symmetry; and thus prepare 
the young to act well their part in the drama of 
life; to dignify and ennoble humanity, and elevate 
it to a plane nearer God and Heaven, is, therefore, 
the great work of education, and consequently the 
true mission of the teacher.— Mass. Teacher. 
THE CEIBA TREE. 
The large trees to which I have alluded, were of 
the variety known as the Ceiba or Silk Cotton tree. 
They were now in their bloom, and crowned with 
a profusion of flowers of rich and variegated col¬ 
ors, but chiefly a bright carnation. It was a novel 
spectacle to see a gigantic tree, five or six feet in 
diameter, and eighty or ninety feet high, sending 
out long and massive limbs, yet bearing flowers 
like a rose-bush—a sort of man-milliner! Viewed j 
from beneath, the flowers were scarcely visible, but 
their fragrance was overpowering, and the ground 
was carpeted with their gay leaves and delicate 
petals. But seen from a distance, the Ceiba tree, 
in bloom, is one of the most splendid productions 
of Nature, a gigantic boquet, which requires a 
whole forest to supply the contrasting green. The 
flowers are rapidly succeeded by a multitude of 
pods, which grow to the size and shape of a goose 
egg. When ripe they burst open, revealing the in¬ 
terior filled with a very soft, light cotton or silky 
fibre, attached as floats to diminutive seeds, which 
are thus wafted far and wide by the winds. This 
process is repeated three times a year.— YVai/can, 
or the Mosquito Shore. 
Illinois State Teachers’ Association. — The 
Annual Meeting ofthe State Teachers’ Association 
of Illinois closed its session at Decatur, on the 30th 
ult. But four years of age, it already numbers five 
hundred members, and the ratio of increase is such 
as to stimulate and encourage all connected with 
it. At the late meeting, enthusiastic teachers and 
friends of education from all parts of tho State 
were present, evincing that the people of Illinois 
appreciate the great truth, that Free Schools are 
the only basis of Republican institutions. The fol¬ 
lowing gentlemen were chosen officers for 1858:— 
President — Simeon Wright, Franklin Grove, Lee 
county. Vice-Presidents —W. D. Palmer, Belvidere; 
J. C. Dore, Chicago; E. Wilkins, Bloomington; W. 
H. Haskell, Canton; C. W. Bowen, Quincy; A. W. 
Estabrqok, Springfield; J. A. Smith, Paris; M. J. 
Lee, Alton; B. G. Roots, Tamaron. Recording Sec- 
retary —N. Bateman, Jacksonville. Corresponding 
Secretary —Dr. C. C. Hoagland, Henry. Treasurer — 
Coal. —Ere we wrap up this carboniferous in¬ 
tegument of the landscape, (says the eloquent 
Hugh Miller,) let us mark to how small a coal field 
England has, for so many years, owed its flourish¬ 
ing trade. Its area, as I have already had occasion 
to remark, scarcely equals that of one of our larger 
Scottish lakes; and yet how many thousand steam 
engines has it set in motion, how many railway 
trains has it propelled, how many thousand wagon 
loads of salt has it elaborated from the brine, how 
many million tuns of iron has it furnished, raised 
to the surface, smelted and hammered! It has 
made Birmingham a great city, the first iron depot 
of Europe, and filled the country with crowded 
towns and busy villages. And if one small field 
has done so much, what may we not expect from 
those vast basins laid down by Lyell in the geologi¬ 
cal map of the United States! 
Ohio State Teachers’ Association. — At the 
late meeting of this Association the following offi¬ 
cers were elected for the ensuing year: —President 
— M. F. Cowdry. Corresponding Secretary — W. 
H. Y r oung. Recording Secretary — II. n. Barber. 
Treasurer —J. J. Janney. Executive Committee —Jno. 
Lynch, Chairman. A. D. Lord, S. M. Barber, C. S. 
S. Royce, J. W. Andrews, C. Nason, J. Ogden. 
Some one well says:—It is a characteristic of 
narrow-minded men, that they grasp the few ideas 
which lie within the limited circle of their compre¬ 
hension with a clearness which often deceives us 
in our estimate of their intellect. They are like 
beggars, who know the stamp and date of every 
penny in their pockets. 
The ground of almost all our false reasoning 
is, that we seldom look any further than on one 
side of the question. 
There are three modes possible for the develop¬ 
ment of the intellect of an intellectual being; to 
know, to will, and to do. 
Ip we could read the history of our enemies, we 
should find in each man’s life sorrow and suffering 
enough to disarm all our hostility. 
