294 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, August 16, 1859. 
quired of what benefit this property is to plants, since the gases 
are frequently presented to them in the atmosphere, it admits 
the ready answer, that they enjoy the additional quantity which 
is thus collected to the vicinity of their roots, without the latter 
source being diminished ; and, that plants are benefited by such 
additional application to their rootlets has been proved by the 
experiments of Mr. Hill, already quoted. 
Again, if the water in which the roots of a plant are immersed 
be contained in a close bottle only partially filled with the water, 
while the remainder is occupied by atmospheric air, the oxygen 
in this air will slowly diminish, being absorbed by the roots 
through the medium of the water. The roots extracting it from 
the water, and the water absorbing it from the air. If carbonic 
acid, nitrogen, or hydrogen, is substituted for the atmospheric 
■air in the bottle, the plant droops and dies in a few days. 
These facts evince that oxygen is required by the roots of 
plants; but practice also suggests that different plants require 
different quantities of that gas. This suggestion arises from the 
fact, that some genera, as the grasses and bulbous-rooted plants, 
require an open, light soil, easily penetrated by the air; whilst 
Beans, Clover, and other plants require a stiff soil less penetrable 
by the air.— ( Johnston's Lectures on Agricultural Chemistry .) 
The question may also be asked, whether the roots have the 
power to extract the oxygen from its combination. That they 
have this power admits of little doubt, since Saussure found that 
they were able to extract various saline bodies from their com¬ 
binations ; not only extracting, but selecting in those cases where 
several salts were in the same solution. Dr. Daubeny, the Ox¬ 
ford Professor of Agriculture, has also shown that strontian is 
rejected by Barley, Pelargoniums, and the winged Pea. 
“ In 1829, the seeds of various plants, such as the garden Radish 
(Raphanus sativus), the Cabbage ( Brassica oleracea), the garden 
Bean ( Yicia Faba), Hemp ( Cannabis sativd), &c., were sown in 
soils containing various proportions of sulphate of strontian, with 
or without manure, and, amongst the rest, one in which no 
other ingredient except this earth was present in any quantity. 
The plants grew up; and when they had arrived at maturity 
were collected, burnt, and their ashes examined. No strontian, 
however, could be detected in any one of them; not even in 
that where the matrix consisted almost wholly of the earth in 
question. In 1831, the experiments were conducted with rather 
more attention to accuracy. One thousand one hundred and 
twenty-four grains of Scarlet Kidney Beans ( Phaseolus multi- 
Jlorus ) were sown in a box containing about 290 lbs. of powdered 
sulphate of strontian, which has been ascertained to be free from 
alkaline matter, but to contain two per cent, of carbonate of 
lime, and about one-half per cent, of alumina. The box was 
placed in an open situation, exposed to sun and rain ; and when 
the plants reared from these seeds had come to maturity, they 
were cut down and burnt. An account was then taken of the 
weight of the ashes remaining after the combustion had been 
completed, and of the fixed principles obtained from them; first, 
hy lixiviation in water; secondly, by digestion in nitric acid; 
and, thirdly, by treating the remainder with an alkaline carbonate, 
and then again with the same acid as before. A similar process 
was gone through with the same quantity of the Kidney Beans 
as that of which the plants examined had been the produce. 
It may be asked, whether the strontian is taken first into the 
system, and afterwards excreted from it, or whether the spon- 
gioles of the roots refuse it admission. The latter supposition 
seems the more probable one; since, if we adopt the former, we 
ought to be able always to find traces of the earth diffused 
throughout the vegetable tissue ; and I may relate an experiment 
of my own, which seems to confirm it, undertaken after the plan 
of those by means of which the ingenious M. Macaire, of Geneva, 
established his important doctrine with respect to the excretory 
function discharged by the roots of plants. A small Pelargonium 
was taken out of its pot, and its roots divided into two nearly 
equal bundles ; one of which had its extremities immersed in a 
glass containing a weak solution of nitrate of strontian, the other 
in one containing pure distilled water. After a week had elapsed, 
the water contained in the second glass was tested; but no 
strontian could be discovered in it, though a single grain in one 
pint of water would have been readily detected by my method. 
Hence it would seem that the strontian is not excreted by the 
roots. Y'et this power of rejecting the earth in question, if 
possessed by the plant, must be held compatible with that of 
absorbing the water containing it, with which its roots are in 
contact. I took out of the ground a small Lilac ( Syringa vul¬ 
garis ), and introduced its roots into a glass globe containing 
seven pints of a weak solution of nitrate of strontian. In about a 
fortnight the quantity was reduced to three pints—the remainder 
having, for the most part, been absorbed by the roots; for 
evaporation was prevented by covering the surface of the water 
with a stratum of Olive oil, and the mouth of the vessel with a 
cork. Unluckily, the original quantity of salt had not been 
estimated; but it was found that what remained in the watel'j 
at the close of the experiment, yielded 69.4 grains of sulphate 
of strontian, equivalent to 39.2 grains of the earth. The four 
pints of water, therefore, consumed, if they had passed through 
the organs of the vegetable charged with their original quantity 
of nitrate of strontian, would have carried into its circulation 
22.4 grains of this earth ; and, as the water was absorbed at the 
average rate of about four ounces and a half per diem, it follows 
that more than one grain and a half would have been carried 
daily through the substance of the plant, supposing the salt to 
have been taken up in the same ratio as the water. Now, on 
burning the plant, and examining its ashes, a trace of strontian 
certainly was detected ; but its whole amount did not reach the 
one-fifth of a grain, that is, two per cent, of the whole quantity 
of earthy matter present; my analysis indicating, of lime 2.70 
grains ; strontian, 0.18 ; total quantity of earth, 7.48. 
Upon the whole, then, I see nothing, so far as experiments 
have yet gone, to invalidate the conclusion, to which the preced¬ 
ing facts appear to lead, that the roots of plants do, to a certain 
extent at least, possess a power of selection ; and that the earthy 
constituents, which form the basis of their solid parts, are de¬ 
termined, as to quality , by some primary law of nature, although 
their amount may depend upon the more or less abundant supply 
of the principles presented to them from without .”—(Edinburgh 
New Philosophical Journal.) —J. 
(To be continued.) 
VARIETIES. 
The Palmetto. —If Bermuda could boast of a few lofty hills, 
its beauty would be greatly improved; but it has no land that 
rises 250 feet above the level of the sea, though it has scarcely 
any level ground. The want of variety in vegetation is another 
disadvantage. The various coloured Oleanders—the pride of 
India, the now somewhat rare Palmetto, and still rarer Date tree, 
and a few other trees, occasionally relieve the otherwise-eternal 
Cedar. The Palmetto, however, is not a graceful tree. It bears, 
indeed, a very unsatisfactory resemblance to the beautiful Palm 
tree, and thus challenges in the mind a most unfortunate com¬ 
parison. By the excellent materials, however, that it furnishes 
for bonnets, it is very useful; and if not ornamental in itself it is 
made so for the ladies. Every mail carries home, as presents, 
some portions of this fabric, as well as of a similar plait, made 
from some long grass, peculiar, I believe, to Bermuda. But the 
supply of the~Palmetto plants is becoming quite unequal to the 
demand. It is now scarcely exported except as private presents. 
English ladies are gradually extinguishing this tree in Bermuda. 
Bishop Berkeley, in 1725, wrote, “ Bermuda hats are worn by 
our ladies ; they are made of a sort of matting, which is the only 
commodity that I can find exported from Bermuda to Great 
Britain.” The Cedar, although handsome, is neither “the Cedar 
of Lebanon,” nor “ the lofty Cedar ” of Shakspeare. It does not 
grow to any great size in Bermuda ; which is, perhaps, owing to 
the great proximity of the sea on every side, and also to insufficient 
depth of soil. It has the appearance of a large dark Fir tree, 
and it abounds in nearly all the islands great and small.— 
(Bermuda. By a Field-officer.) 
Vegetable Pkoducts oe Beehuda. —The following articles 
are at present produced—many of them abundantly—from the 
Bermudian sod :—Arrowroot, Oats, Indian Com (Indian Com 
I raised in Bermuda is said to be superior to that produced in the 
United States), Irish Potatoes, Onions, Tomatoes, Turnips, 
Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Cabbages, Cauliflowers, Peas, Beans, 
Cucumbers, Lettuces, Radishes, Squashes, Beet-root, &c., &c. 
Amongst the fruits are Melons and Oranges. The latter do not 
flourish much at any time, and last, year they were destroyed by 
a blight after a single proprietor had advertised 20,000 of them 
for sale. Grapes are scarce; but occasionally, in particular soils, 
very good. The West Indian fruits do not appear to thrive well 
in Bermuda. The Bananas at the latter are seldom worth 
eating. The Pomegranate, however, especially if mixed with 
ice water, is delicious in hot weather. 'The green Fig also is 
excellent. The Sugar Cane grows well in the neighbourhood of 
