308 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
tion of the plant, (let it be ivhat plant it may,) that does 
not contain oxygen. Water is besides, in plants as well 
as animals, a solvent for the other elements of nutrition. 
The blood in animals, cannot exist without it; or if it can 
exist, it cannot circulate to the advantage of the animal; 
just so with the sap of plants. Water not only affords as 
it were a vehicle for the conveyance of nutrition to the 
various parts of plants and animals, but also a considera¬ 
ble and indispensable portion of the nutrition itself. 
As an illustration of these principles of nutrition, a 
well known fact in horticulture may be mentioned. If 
in the fore part of summer, after the tree has shed its 
blossoms, you ring the limb of an apple tree, that is, take 
off the bark for a quarter of an inch around the limb,near 
the trunk of the tree; or, which answers equally well, 
place a small wire around the limb near the trunk, draw¬ 
ing it tightly so that it shall be made to sink into the 
bark all around; you will find the limb will increase in 
size above the ring, but not below it; and the fruit, if it 
bear fruit, will be larger and ripen sooner on that limb 
than that on any of the others. The reason is, that the 
ring has intercepted the descent of the nutricious sap 
from the leaves at the top, and thus compelled its conver¬ 
sion to the growth of the limb and the fruit above the ring. 
The conclusions to be drawn from the principies above 
laid down are obvious. 1st. Plants take nourishment 
precisely as animals do, except the apparatus, (the mouth) 
and mode of taking it, differ in form. Plants as well as 
animals, reduce all substances that contain nutricious 
principles to their original elements, before they convert 
any portion of them to their own organism. Therefore, 
when we apply stable manure to soil, we do so merely to 
enable the soil and the plants to extract from it the ni¬ 
trogen, &c. that its ammonia contains. The plants do 
not take up ammonia, but simply one of its elements, ni¬ 
trogen. The elementary principles of the manure are 
all in like manner taken up and combined. If there be 
an excess of any one element, that excess is excluded 
from the sap; and if the sap contains an excess of any 
principle, that excess is ejected in the form of excre¬ 
ment. Indeed this paper may be appropriately conclu¬ 
ded witth the remark that life is supported by death. 
Death must take place in something , before any thing can 
receive nutritive matter; because it is from the death and 
dissolution of one thing, that the nourishment of another 
is obtained. If animals and plants do not die, man can¬ 
not live or be supplied with meat and bread; and if ani¬ 
mals and plants do not perish, plants cannot live. From 
the dissolution of one body, animal or vegetable, another 
body derives the elements of its own growth, its woody 
fibre, sugar, &c.; its flesh, bone, &c. But every thing 
must be reduced to its original elements, before its con¬ 
stituent principles can be appropriated to other forms. In 
fact, all processes of life, in both kingdoms, animal and 
vegetable, and the mineral too indeed, are nothing more 
than the changing of places of the elements of organiza¬ 
tion. An animal dies, its body decays, as we call it. 
But this body does not decay. The elementary princi¬ 
ples of which it is composed, merely separate, and form 
new combinations—one portion enters into and becomes 
a portion of a plant, probably a rose or a lilly, probably 
of a skunk; just so with a plant. A portion of its consti¬ 
tuent principles becomes absolutely a part and portion 
of the body of Queen Victoria, or of that of a goose, or 
of that of any other animal. But let us stop. The idea 
intended to be conveyed in this paper, must by this time 
have become obvious—vegetable nutrition is the same 
thing, neither more nor less than animal nutrition; go¬ 
verned by the same laws, resulting in the same effects, 
requiring the same provision. Gideon B. Smith. 
NEW KIND OF CABBAGE. 
Mr. John Lossing showed us the other day, what he 
calls a Roman Cabbage. The variety seems to possess 
some peculiarities. It is more solid, and heavier in pro¬ 
portion to its bulk, than any we have seen. It also grows 
very quick. The head shown us, weighed 20 pounds on 
the 20th of July. Its shape is oblong, anti much pointed 
at the top. It is said to keep better than any other cab¬ 
bage. The seed was brought into the country by some 
Germans. 
APPLES AS FOOD FOR ANIMALS. 
Apples, when ripe, afford more or less nutriment to an¬ 
imals. Sweet apples are generally supposed to be most 
nutricious, though we are not certain that this supposi¬ 
tion is correct. Our fathers and grandfathers held that 
sweet apples would fatten hogs; but in latter years, it 
has been proved that hogs will fatten on apples that are 
not sweet. 
A hog is naturally an epicure—(we don’t say an epi¬ 
cure is a hog )—and when left to himself* is a pretty good 
judge of what is best. Observe, then, what are his natu¬ 
ral habits. Put him in an orchard where there are vari¬ 
ous kinds of apples, and see how he will work, or rather 
how he will eat. He will always select the most palata¬ 
ble apples—he will not confine himself to one kind, nor 
to sweet apples alone; but will go over the orchard and 
pick out the choicest fruit, always choosing that which 
is in such a state of ripeness that its qualities are nearest 
perfection. Like the boys, his regular haunts are the 
“ best trees,” whether the apples are sweet or pleasantly 
sour; but he never eats a real crabbed apple, or an unripe 
one, unless forced by hunger. We should therefore in¬ 
fer from the natural habits of the hog, that if we wish to 
obtain the greatest thrift from him when feeding on ap¬ 
ples, it is best to feed him partly with those which are 
sweet, and partly with those which may be called sub¬ 
acid. 
When hogs or cattle are being fed principally on grain- 
their appetite, health and thrift, will be found much im. 
proved hy a small allowance of raw apples, occasionally- 
As a regular food for hogs, the value of apples is un¬ 
doubtedly much improved by cooking, either by steam, 
ing or boiling. If they are to be fed by themselves, 
steaming is probably best. But it is believed that the 
most judicious way is to boil or stew them thoroughly, 
and mix with them while hot, a portion of meal. This 
checks the laxative nature of the apple, imparts addition¬ 
al value, and causes the food to be retained in the stomach 
and intestines a sufficient length of time for the whole 
nutriment to be extracted. The meal may be made from 
Indian corn, rye, barley, buckwheat or oats and peas. 
We think we have never seen hogs fatten faster, than 
when fed on the following kinds and proportions of food, 
viz: a bushel of potatoes and a bushel of apples boiled 
together, and when sufficiently soft, a peck of oat and pea 
meal stirred into them, having the mixture when cold, 
about the consistency of good stiff mush, or a hasty pud¬ 
ding.” The pork was solid, sweet and good. Some ex¬ 
periments made several years since by Payne Wingate, 
Esq. of Hallowell, Maine, a very close and accurate ob¬ 
server, showed that apples were worth more than pota¬ 
toes for fattening hogs, especially when both were cook¬ 
ed and mixed with an equal portion of meal. Apples 
are also excellent for cattle. We have repeatedly wit¬ 
nessed their effects in the thrift and smoothness of the 
coats of cattle to which they were fed at the rate of about 
a peck per day, during the winter. Fed regularly, in 
this quantity, they increase the quantity and richness of 
the milk of cows, while the condition of the animal is 
likewise improved. 
It is the opinion of some very judicious farmers, that a 
given quantity of ground will afford more nutriment for 
any kind of stock, when appropriated to apple trees,than 
when devoted to any other crop. Our own experience 
inclines us to favor this conclusion, and we think our 
friends, who for the promotion of temperance, have cut 
down their orchards, have shown a Ct ' zeal not according 
to knowledge.” They seemed not to be aware that the 
same substances which produced the deleterious effects 
that they desired to avoid, might be converted into 
wholesome and substantial articles of human sustenance. 
CEMENT FOR GLASS WARE. 
Cover the broken edges with a thin coat of common 
white-lead paint, and then pass a cord round the glass ar¬ 
ticle or vessel, to bind the parts closely together. In a 
few weeks it will become perfectly dry, and will be found 
to have adhered very firmly together. Tried by the 
writer, and known to be good. J» 
