Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1837-06-28

it capable of second years crop. This
however as a general result is CONTRADICT,
ed by experience, and therefore cannot ha
satisfactory explanation of the causs
why rotation is necessary.
The celebrated Pi.tel of Geneva, sun.
posed that the circumstance of roots SUE.
ceedlng after grain, was probably owing
to different p lants requiring and drawne
from the earth not the same, but differeHt
elements the supply Of any of which he,
ing limited, the earth is amerced of Soma
new and sustaining principle by ever;
succeeding crop. This explanation is d..
fective in assuming that plants have
power of selecting their nutritive matter
an assumption not only hypothetical, bu,
wholly contradcted by the facts; for
plants are observed to take up Indifferent.
w all substances soluble in water
The speculation Of Decandolle has
found numerous and able supporters:
still we think it wholly unreconcilab}e
with numerous facts This philosopher
supposes that the excretions from plans
during their growth, may act as poisom
to the earth. and, after a certain time, 50
injure it, as to prevent the further grovl1
Of plants that may once and peri ap5 re,
cent? flourish there. Such cxcretions hs
supposes to be emanations from the roo:
the remains Of those juices which the
earth and air coniointly supply, and upon
which in reality the plant subsists. But
against the very fact mentioned BY De-
pdolIo IN e rroo4ioo &C bie
that opium strewed upon the ground kills
plants, and renders the soil hencetor,h
unproductive, we may adduce the much
more opposite fact that trees grow AMI
flourish for entire centuries in the miLs,
OF eXcretions from their own roots Gil
this our primeval forests furnish the mos
ample evidence; as do the prairies of the
ilIimitabIe west or the meadows or pas.
lures that for ages immemorial in Eng.
land have been devoted to grass, prove
that plants of this kind do not suffer tror.
these imaginary secretions.
The celebrated naturalist Mirbel, La,
lately given the following explanations Of
the phenomena that render rotation Of
crops advisable. They are simple, and
in the main satisfactory, amounting in
substance to the same that lave been
given in former volume of the Farmer
Plants require other elements for their
support, besides the elements of assimi)a.
ton, and cannot thrive without them
For instance there is slick in the cane
ana there is lime in certain plants. (sav
Wheat,) whose organization conld NO:
competed without it. The quantity q
any such foreign ingredient in plant is
generally small; still the necessity for
may &c presumed as absolute. Plants
cannot be constituted unless all the materi
ais they require be furnished to them and
indeed the same observations will apnly
to animals; deprive a hen of lime, her
eggs will have 40 shell deprive the earth
OF It's salts, such as form potash, soda, G,
In combination with minerals lime own.
sum- &C., and you destroy its productive
power The smallest Quantity of eyp
sum will have a remarkable effect on
Clover; and the effects of the other com.
onatlons are scarcel y less visible on other
varieties of plants. But the formation u
these salts, or materials, exciting and SUB.
'a'h'ng the growth of plants, when snon.
taneous' is slow, and the result OF regular
chemical changes which have been At
work tor centuries; and when the natu.
raj and limited supply is exhausted rs il
soon must be, II the successive crons oC,be
same kind ale forced upon the soil then
the plants will look yellow and shabby
each year renders it more worthless m.
III hnaIly not enough will grow to repay
cultivation. Let the crop perish where i
grew, the earth will re-assume the MINI.
rails and salts extracted from it durinc
such growth, and the same plants viii
flourish indefinitely"
The course of the farmer then in tho
cultivation of the soil would seem to he
pIalnI y indicated. The cause If axbans,
tIon once ascertained, and a suitabI. reme.
dy discovered, it only remains to avoid
lne one and apply the other, to ensure
perpetual fertility to our soils. Bv care.
fully examining the nature Of pl.1ts the
SOIL they best flourish in, the kinds Of fonj
they require, the manures that act the
most on their irri,ability and stimulate
'he!' growth the most sensibly, we shall
arrive at correct conclusions resnectino
many processes that are now involved in
mystery and exceedingly simplify the
manner as we'll as increase the nrotts Of
agriculture Wv P'0'''' '"