The Elements of Agriculture. George Edwin Waring

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      What is the most important compound of chlorine?

      This is sand, the base of flint. It is necessary for the growth of all plants, as it gives them much of their strength. In connection with an alkali it constitutes the hard shining surface of corn stalks, straw, etc. Silica unites with the alkalies and forms compounds, such as silicate of potash, silicate of soda, etc., which are soluble in water, and therefore available to plants. If we roughen a corn stalk with sand-paper we may sharpen a knife upon it. This is owing to the hard particles of silica which it contains. Window glass is silicate of potash, rendered insoluble by additions of arsenic and litharge.

      Liebig tells us that some persons discovered, between Manheim and Heidelberg in Germany, a mass of melted glass where a hay-stack had been struck by lightning. They supposed it to be a meteor, but chemical analysis showed that it was only the compound of silica and potash which served to strengthen the grass.

      There is always enough silica in the soil, but it is often necessary to add an alkali to render it available. When grain, etc., lodge or fall down from their own weight, it is altogether probable that they are unable to obtain from the soil a sufficient supply of the soluble silicates, and some form of alkali should be added to the soil to unite with the sand and render it soluble.

CHLORINE

      Of what use is chloride of lime?

      What is oxide of iron?

      What is the difference between the peroxide and the protoxide of iron?

      Chlorine is an important ingredient of vegetable ashes, and is often required to restore the balance to the soil. It is not found alone in nature, but is always in combination with other substances. Its most important compound is with sodium, forming chloride of sodium (or common salt). Sodium is the base of soda, and common salt is usually the best source from which to obtain both soda and chlorine. Chlorine unites with lime and forms chloride of lime, which is much used to absorb the unpleasant odors of decaying matters, and in this character it is of use in the treatment of manures.

OXIDE OF IRON

      Oxide of iron, one of the constituents of ashes, is common iron rust. Iron itself is naturally of a grayish color, but when exposed to the atmosphere, it readily absorbs oxygen and forms a reddish compound. It is in this form that it usually exists in nature, and many soils as well as the red sandstones are colored by it. It is seldom, if ever, necessary to apply this as a manure, there being usually enough of it in the soil.

      This red oxide of iron, of which we have been speaking, is called by chemists the peroxide. There is another compound which contains less oxygen than this, and is called the protoxide of iron, which is poisonous to plants. When it exists in the soil it is necessary to use such means of cultivation as shall expose it to the atmosphere and allow it to take up more oxygen and become the peroxide. The black scales which fly from hot iron when struck by the blacksmith's hammer are protoxide of iron.

      The peroxide of iron is a very good absorbent of ammonia, and consequently, as will be hereafter described, adds to the fertility of the soil.

      What can you say of the oxide of manganese?

      How do you classify the inorganic constituents?

      Oxide of Manganese, though often found in small quantities in the ashes of cultivated plants, cannot be considered indispensable.

      Having now examined all of the materials from which the ashes of plants are formed,6 we are enabled to classify them in a simple manner, so that they may be recollected. They are as follows:—

      CHAPTER V

GROWTH

      Of what does a perfect young plant consist?

      How must the food of plants be supplied?

      Can carbon and earthy matter be taken up at separate stages of growth, or must they both be supplied at once?

      Having examined the materials of which plants are made, it becomes necessary to discover how they are put together in the process of growth. Let us therefore suppose a young wheat-plant for instance to be in condition to commence independent growth.

      It consists of roots which are located in the soil; leaves which are spread in the air, and a stem which connects the roots and leaves. This stem contains sap vessels (or tubes) which extend from the ends of the roots to the surfaces of the leaves, thus affording a passage for the sap, and consequently allowing the matters taken up to be distributed throughout the plant.

      What seems to be nature's law with regard to this?

      What is the similarity between making a cart and raising a crop?

      In the growth of a young plant, what operations take place about the same time?

      It is necessary that the materials of which plants are made should be supplied in certain proportions, and at the same time. For instance, carbon could not be taken up in large quantities by the leaves, unless the roots, at the same time, were receiving from the soil those mineral matters which are necessary to growth. On the other hand, no considerable amount of earthy matter could be appropriated by the roots unless the leaves were obtaining carbon from the air. This same rule holds true with regard to all of the constituents required; Nature seeming to have made it a law that if one of the important ingredients of the plant is absent, the others, though they may be present in sufficient quantities, cannot be used. Thus, if the soil is deficient in potash, and still has sufficient quantities of all of the other ingredients, the plant cannot take up these ingredients, because potash is necessary to its life.

      If a farmer wishes to make a cart he prepares his wood and iron, gets them all in the proper condition, and then can very readily put them together. But if he has all of the wood necessary and no iron, he cannot make his cart, because bolts, nails and screws are required, and their place cannot be supplied by boards. This serves to illustrate the fact that in raising plants we must give them every thing that they require, or they will not grow at all.

      In the case of our young plant the following operations are going on at about the same time.

      The leaves are absorbing carbonic acid from the atmosphere, and the roots are drinking in water from the soil.

      What becomes of the carbonic acid?

      How is the sap disposed of?

      What does it contain?

      How does the plant obtain its carbon?

      Its oxygen and hydrogen?

      Its nitrogen?

      Its inorganic matter?

      Under the influence of daylight, the carbonic acid is decomposed; its oxygen returned to the atmosphere, and its carbon retained in the plant.

      The water taken in by the roots circulates through the sap vessels of the plant, and, from various causes, is drawn up towards the leaves where it is evaporated. This water contains the nitrogen and the inorganic matter required by the plant and some carbonic acid, while the water itself consists of hydrogen and oxygen.

      Thus we see that the plant obtains its food in the following manner:—

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