310 
THE INFLUENCE OF THE ORIGIN OF SEEDS 
be collected and placed in a heap on the surface of the earth, and two 
or three times in each year be turned over and exposed to the atmo¬ 
sphere for three years, this will form a substance or soil in which plants 
will grow, and obtain the utmost luxuriance and prolificacy. Taking 
these two processes, then, to mark the extremes in the preparation of 
the food of plants, we may easily trace the degrees of the fertilising 
effects of the various operations of agriculture. If the roots of plants 
could be abstracted from the earth entire, they would be found to bear 
a large proportion in the comparative weight of the leaf, stalk, &c. ; 
and as these are generally left on the soil, it must be obvious, that if 
they or any vegetable substances are decomposed, and left undisturbed 
in the earth, the result must be very much like that of decomposed 
leaves under water. And if these are brought on the surface of the 
earth, and decomposed in contact with the atmosphere, which is the case 
when the earth is frequently turned over, the result must very much 
resemble that of the leaves when decomposed on the surface of the 
earth ; and therefore digging, ploughing, and hoeing, must be fertili¬ 
sing operations. Chemically considered, we may take the carbonaceous 
matter produced under water to be hydro-carbonate ; and that produced 
on the surface of the earth, and exposed to the atmosphere, to be oxy- 
carbonate; and hence, we may not only conclude, that in proportion as 
the oxy-carbonate prevails in the soil, will the plant be brought to and 
sustained in a fructiferous state; but every person who will make any 
practical experiment that can elucidate the truth, as I have repeatedly 
done, will find it to be as I have described. 
The Influence of the Origin of Seeds on the Quantity 
and Quality of Crops : By Dr. Brown. Translated from the 
Journal d’Agriculture des Pays Bus. Extracted from the British 
Farmer’s Magazine. 
Even to the present day, the cultivators of forest trees, have not 
generally taken advantage of a phenomenon which is presented to us in 
the cultivation of agricultural plants; and although it has not yet been 
sufficiently explained, is, nevertheless, well established. This pheno¬ 
menon is the influence which seed exerts on the quantity and quality of 
the crop which is produced from it, according to the different natures of 
the soil and climate from which this seed has been procured. The good 
results of this influence have appeared after using seed from a cold 
climate and a tenacious and cold soil, in a warm climate and a dry and 
light soil; but they are also equally apparent under circumstances quite 
the reverse, provided the soil be not too dry and barren, and the seed 
has had the opportunity of being perfectly matured. It appears, then, 
that the two opposite kinds of soils and climates profit equally from a 
