THE CULTIVATOR 
127 
DICTIONARY OF TERMS USED IN 
Agriculture uni) its kinbrefc Sciences. 
HUMUS_Plants are supposed In some form to derive 
their nourishment from a peculiar substance in the soil, 
called humus, and which is the result of the decomposi¬ 
tion of other and previous plants. “ Humus is descri¬ 
bed by chemists, as a brown substance, easily soluble in 
alkalies, but only slightly soluble in water, and produced 
during the decomposition of vegetable matters by 
the action of acids or alkalies.” “ Woody fibre in a 
state of decay, is the substance called humus.” —(Liebig.) 
There are various modifications of humus known to che¬ 
mists; those which are soluble in alkalies are called hu¬ 
mic acid, while the insoluble modifications are called hu- 
min. Dr. Dana applies the name of geine to this sub¬ 
stance, and divides it into soluble and insoluble geine, 
and considers that in the three states of vegetable extract, 
geine, and carbonaceous mold, it is the principle which 
gives fertility to soils long after the action of ordinary 
manures has ceased. He pronounces it to be the “ de¬ 
composed organic matter of the soil.” That humus 
owes its origin to decayed vegetation, can scarcely be 
questioned: but the manner in which it produces the fer¬ 
tilizing effects on the soil, or rather in what manner it is 
made subservient to the growth of plants, is a question 
which is exciting no little interest, and is certainly one 
of importance to the farmer, as well as the vegetable phy¬ 
siologist. The more common opinion has been, that 
humus was no further available than it was soluble, and 
that in this state it was taken up by the roots of plants 
and converted by their vital action into the substance of 
the plant. Others, and among these are the celebrated 
chemists Liebig and Raspail, maintain “that humus, in 
the state in which it exists in the soil, does not yield the 
smallest nourishment to plants.” That plants may receive 
some nourishment from humus in the shape of humates, 
or humus combined with an alkali, such as humate of 
lime, would seem probable, as such humates become so¬ 
luble in water: but the ingenious experiments of Lie¬ 
big prove that but a small part, if any, of the nourish¬ 
ment of plants is actually derived from that source. Hu¬ 
mus, then, must be available in some other way than by 
actual absorption by the roots, and this way, Liebig 
contends, is by its gradual conversion into carbonic acid 
gas. Several furious attacks have been made on the 
German chemist for his assertion that humus, as it exists 
in the soil, is of no avail to plants, but if humus is only 
the decayed matter of plants, it is clear that, no matter 
how fine its particles may be, it must undergo some 
change before it can be taken up by the plant, or con¬ 
verted to nourishment in any way. The modern doc¬ 
trine is, that plants derive most of their nourishment, or 
in other words, the carbon which constitutes the most of 
their structure, from the carbonic gas of the air; and that 
humus is only or chiefly useful in furnishing a constant 
supply of this gas for the use of the plant. It seems to 
us, however, that as carbonic gas is readily soluble in 
water, or combines with it in large quantities, that in 
this form it is presented to the roots of plants, and ap¬ 
propriated by them to thoir growth or nourishment, as 
well as from the air by the leaves. This opinion is sus¬ 
tained by the remark of Liebig, that every root and leaf 
acquired by the plant, gives it anew mouth and stomach. 
Common manures, such as are derived from vegetables 
principally, are of little use until decomposition has been 
effected, and the formation of carbonic gas has commenc¬ 
ed. Those manures in which the nutritive and stimula¬ 
ting properties are combined, or those in which ammo¬ 
nia exists with the carbon, are found to be the most ef¬ 
ficient, and the earliest in their action on plants. The 
prepared manures belong to this class. 
HURDLES_In the cultivation of silk, various me¬ 
thods have been adopted for the feeding of the worms, 
so that the dangers arising from crowding, or from the 
filth of their excrements and fragments of leaves in 
feeding may be avoided. In consequence of a neglect 
of these things, disease is engendered, and the whole of 
the worms are not unfrequently destroyed. To prevent 
this, it has been proposed to feed them on a kind of net¬ 
work called hurdles, through the interstices of which all 
offensive matter falls, and by turning which, the rejected 
leaves are easily removed without disturbing the worms. 
Several American silk growers have directed their atten¬ 
tion to this point, particularly Mr. Morris of Burlington, 
N. J., Dr. Goodsell of Utica, Mr. Fox of Mt. Pleasant, 
Ohio, and perhaps others, and very great improvements 
have been made, combining neatness and ease in feeding, 
and contributing much to the health and productiveness 
of the worm. 
HYBERNATION.—That state of inaction and rest 
which some animals and many plants undergo during 
the cold season of the year is called hybernation, and 
exhibits some remarkable phenomena well deserving the 
attention of the naturalist. On the approach of winter, 
the badger, marmot, ground squirrel, frog, toad, snakes, 
&c. betake themselves to their retreats in the earth, where 
in a torpid, motionless state, with but just circulation 
enough to preserve vitality, they remain until the re¬ 
turning summer rouses their dormant faculties to action 
once more. Those instances in which animals and in¬ 
sects have been found in positions where they must have 
remained for centuries, as toads, frogs, bees, &c. in solid 
rocks, are examples of continued hybernation, produced 
by being placed in a position where the temperament and 
the confined state adopted at the commencement of the 
hybernation, is continued by causes afterwards superin¬ 
duced. Thus, the bats enclosed in the old mine at Che¬ 
shire, Connecticut, by a slide from the mountain, while 
in a state of hybernation, remained in that state for more 
than a quarter of a century, and were so found at the re¬ 
opening of the mine. Thus, toads, hybernating in swamps, 
if covered while in that state to a depth which would 
prevent the usual effects arising from the changes of the 
seasons, would remain in that position, and the subse¬ 
quent conversion of the covering matter into stone, would 
enclose them forever in the rocky mass. It is to this 
indurating process that we must ascribe the wonderful 
preservation and continued vitality of those reptiles 
which are found in the sandstones of the transition se¬ 
ries. The condition of plants too during our winters, 
in which the sap ceases to circulate, or circulates but to 
a limited extent, and in a languid manner, is a species of 
hybernation. It is a rest of the plant, a cessation of its 
functions, growth ceases, and what may be called a 
sleep of the plant ensues. Other causes may pro¬ 
duce this rest of plants. Numerous instances occurred 
the last fall, (1841,) in which a second blossoming 
has taken place, and the flowers of the first of 
October have vied with those of May or June. This 
reviving of the plant has been noticed in the apple, 
plum and pear. It is unquestionably to be attributed to 
the check which the extreme hot and dry weather gave 
to the trees, and which produced on them an effect simi¬ 
lar to that of the hybernation of tropical plants. The 
functions of the plant were for a time partially suspend¬ 
ed: heat had performed the effect of cold; the secretions 
of the plant which prepare it for blossoming and re-pro¬ 
duction had been performed, and when rains succeeded 
the drouth, their blossoming in October as well as in 
May, was the natural result. 
HYBRIDS_When copulation takes place between 
different species of animals, the progeny, which in some 
cases is the result, is termed a hybrid, as partaking- of the 
qualities of both, yet distinct from either. Thus a con¬ 
nexion between the ass and the mare produces the mule; 
and between the horse and the female ass, the hinny, the 
two most common hybrids among animals. Hybrids 
among animals do not have the power of re-production; 
a proof that muling is a violation of nature’s law, by 
which the races as distinct species is governed. There is 
at present in the Highlands of Scotland a hybrid between 
the stag and the mare, the first ever known. Hybrid 
plants are quite common, and there is no so certain way of 
producing new varieties, as by muling or cross breed¬ 
ing; and in the language of Professor Lindley, “ it is to 
this process more than to any thing else, that we owe 
the beauty and excellence of most of our vegetable gar¬ 
den productions.” The operation of producing hybrids, 
or of muling plants, is very simple, consisting in nothing 
more than the applying the pollen of one plant to the 
stigma of another. Some precautions are, however, re¬ 
quisite in this, such as depriving the flower intended to 
be fertilized of its own anthers, otherwise the stigma 
will be self-impregnated, and the pollen must be applied 
at the proper season, when the peculiar mucus which 
detains the pollen is present on the stigma. The power 
of muling is among plants however confined within nar¬ 
row limits. Mr. Knight, who was probably more suc¬ 
cessful in the process of muling than any other man, 
and to whom we are indebted for some of the finest of 
our modern fruits, was never able to make a cross be¬ 
tween the Morello and the common cherry. Professor 
Lindley says he has “ in vain endeavored to mule the 
gooseberry and the currant,” and the apple and the pear, 
the blackberry and raspberry, have never mixed though 
such a result might reasonably have been expected. 
HYDATIDS.—These are animals, generally pear 
shaped, found in various animals, where they are para¬ 
sitic, and resembling a vesicle or bladder filled with 
water. It was for a long time doubted whether they 
had an independent existence, butasthey have evidently 
a voluntary motion, and as they have the property of 
acting on matter in such a way as to convert it into a sub¬ 
stance like that which constitutes the agent, (which ac¬ 
cording to Roget, demonstrates a vital power,) there is 
no reason to suppose it has not a distinct animal exist¬ 
ence. Hydatids occur sometimes in man, but more fre¬ 
quently in animals. In hogs it causes the measles; in 
sheep, in the brain they cause the staggers, and in the 
liver the rot; and some of them are lodged in the tissue 
of the muscles, while another, the Hydatis gloibosa, is 
frequently observed on the intestines of pigs. Sheep 
are best cured of these parasites by a removal from all 
wet, low land, to dry pasturage. They have in some 
desperate cases, where the affection of the brain was in¬ 
disputable, been cured by trepanning and the extraction 
of the hydatids. 
IN-AND-IN BREEDING.—This is a term applied by 
the breeders of animals to that kind of propagation 
where both are of the same blood, and the nearest rela¬ 
tions possible. Although some of the most decided im¬ 
provements have been made by following this system of 
breeding in-and-in, yet it has only been done by the 
most judicious selections, and the exercise of cautious 
judgment, while in the hands of the ordinary breeder it 
is sure to run out a stock, degenerating them rapidly, 
rendering the males impotent in many cases, and the fe¬ 
males of little value as nurses or breeders. Experience 
seems to have proved that crosses of the same variety of 
animals, but of another family, have made the best ani¬ 
mals, and such a course is to be preferred to breeding 
in-and-in. In some cases, where there is a marked su¬ 
periority in any race of animals, which it is wished to 
retain, a cross with a race less perfect in some respects, 
perhaps, but more vigorous, making what Berry calls a 
strong cross, and then breeding directly back to the fa¬ 
vorite blood, has been very successful. The first at¬ 
tempts to improve the short horns, Berkshires, &c. re¬ 
ceived serious checks from this system of in-and-in 
breeding, and both Berry and Collings found it necessa¬ 
ry to give more vigor and constitution to their animals, 
by an infusion of different, and in some respects inferior 
blood. 
INDIAN CORN, (Zea Maize.) —One of the most va¬ 
luable of the plants cultivated for the use of man, or ani¬ 
mals; a native of America, but now spread over a large 
part of the habitable globe, and where cultivated, consti¬ 
tuting an article of bread in perhaps more general use 
than any other. Corn requires a warm climate, a rich 
soil, and good cultivation; under these circumstances 
the product per acre will rise high, many instances 
being reported of crops from 100 to 150 bushels. In 
England and Scotland the average temperature of the 
summer is too low' for corn, and few attempts are made 
to cultivate it; while in the United States it is exten¬ 
sively grown in all parts; and in parts of the middle, 
and over the entire south, it constitutes the chief or only 
source of bread. There are many varieties of Indian 
corn. In the excellent treatise on this plant. Dr. P. A. 
Browne, of Pennsylvania, 11 kinds of yellow corn are 
enumerated; 9 kinds white corn; 10 of red corn, or red 
cobs; 2 of blue corn; and 4 of varieties not properly 
classed with either of these; making some 35 in the 
whole. Since this treatise was written several new va¬ 
rieties have been noticed, among which is the singular 
corn called rice corn. Some of the varieties of the 
white corn differ from each other but by slight shades, 
and the same remark may be made of the yellow. We 
have the present year cultivated some 26 varieties, most 
of them very distinctly marked, but some of them with 
variations very slight, and which we can hardly consider 
permanent. This is particularly the case with two or 
three of the small eight rowed whites. Corn differs in 
the shape of the grain, in the color, in the color of the 
cob, and in the number of rows on the ear. Northern 
yellow corn is considered as the most nutritive, is pre¬ 
ferred in distilleries, and can be preserved longer in a 
perfect condition than any other; but the southern white 
is generally preferred for bread, or rather for the hot 
cakes, in which form it is most commonly served up in 
the south. In cultivation that corn is to be preferred 
which gives the greatest weight of stalks, cobs, and 
corn per acre, where the climate is such as to ensure its 
ripening; but where it is necessary that early maturing 
kinds should be chosen, that variety which has a large 
kernel and small cob is to be preferred, as the cob is the 
last part of the ear that reaches maturity, or that state 
of dryness in which it is safe from mould. At the north 
the Canada white flint, Toronto yellow, Oswego long 
white corn, twelve rowed yellow, Dutton and Brown 
corns arc much cultivated; while in the south the 
white and yellow gourd seeds, Dent corn, &c. are 
most esteemed, and where the soil is of proper 
richness grow to a great size. No part of the world 
seems so well adapted to the culture of corn as the Mis¬ 
sissippi Valley, and the quantity already produced, is 
almost incredible. It is cultivated with so much ease, 
the labor required is trifling, and the product per 
acre so great, that it will in some way, constitute the 
great staple of the west. 
IRRIGATION_The importance of water to vegeta¬ 
tion is known to every farmer, yet very few are the in¬ 
stances in which this natural want is supplied by artifi¬ 
cial means. In most cases by a wise dispensation of 
providence, showers supply the requisite moisture, and 
of all water that can be applied to plants, rain water is 
found the most suitable; but there are some soils and 
some crops which require more water than others, and 
which are greatly benefitted by artificial supplies. Thus 
the drifting sands of Arabia, are arrested and covered 
with vegetation by water; the rice fields of India and 
the south are flooded to secure a crop, and irrigation, or 
an occasional flowing of water from brooks, rivers, or 
springs, over meadows is found to add much to their 
productiveness. All water contains more or less matter 
essential to plants. The soluble salts, the finely divided 
organic matters, and the richest parts of all soils are 
continually passing away in the streams by which our 
fields are watered, and it is this cause which forms one 
of the drawbacks on their fertility. To arrest and de¬ 
tain these matters from wholly passing away, and being 
lost to the soil, is another important end of irrigation. 
The more foreign matter any water contains, the more 
valuable it will be for irrigation; thus x-iver water is bet¬ 
ter than that of springs, and rivers below large towns, 
are found to act far more effectively than above. Of this 
there is abundant evidence in the use of the Thames wa¬ 
ter below and above London, and particularly the cele- 
bi-ated Craigintinny meadows below Edinburgh. Water 
genex-ally contains sulphate of lime, at least all hard wa¬ 
ters do, and a single flowing of a meadow with such 
water for a few days, besides the other materials it de- 
posites will leave more of this sulphate or plaster,than is 
usually applied per acre by farmers. Some of the best 
meadows and lands of England, have been formed by 
flowing them and increasing the deposit until poor lands 
have become like the richest alluvion. In this country, 
few instances of irrigation have as yet been attempted, 
but where it has been done by system, and with i-eference 
to permanent results, they have proved most successful; 
and the practice, as the soils become older and other me¬ 
thods besides manuring become proper to promote fertil¬ 
ity, will doubtless be common. 
To accomplish much, a man must live as if he were 
immortal. 
