Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1847-11-27

count If their practical bearings Inc
food Of plants Is, for the most pat, taken u
solution through their roots. Vafiotfs min.
prsla4silux, lime, A%ltftner. niRsnesia, POI
tasso-ate passed Into Tho tree III a dissolY.
I'd state. Tile sap passes to The leaf, thr
supprfuons water IL given dff, but mt the
substauefs which Il held in solution. These
in part are distributed through the plant,
and In part remain as n deposit In the coils
Of The leaf. Gradually tho leaf choices ur,
It's functions are impedsd, aud, finally, ep"
tifely stopped. When The leaf drops, IL
contains a large per cent. OF mineral mat
ter. An attmnnal or old leaf yields, upon
analyses, n yety much larger proportion Of
earthly matter than A veTnal leaf, which,
being yet young, has not received within
is cells any considerable deposit. IL viii
be- found, also, thnt the leaves Contain u
very much higher per cent. Of mineral mat
Ter than ltrs wood Of The trunk. The dried
leaves Of tho elm contain more than eleven
per cent ofashes, earthly matter, while the
wood contains less than twoper cont Theses
Of the willow more than eight per cent
while The wood has only O,45 those Of the
beach $50, the wood only 0 SO those Of
the (EuropcaD) oak 400, tho wood only
O,21 those Of tho pitch.Pino 3,l5' the
wood only O,95 per cent.
II Is very plain from these facts, that, In
forests, The mineral ingredients Of the soil
perform a sort Of circulation entering tbs
root they ARE deposited in the leaf, then
with 1t fall 10 the earth, and, BY its decay,
they are restored to the soil, again TO travel
their Circuit. Forest soils, therefore, iUa
: stead Of being impoverished by the growth
Of tress, receive back annually The greatest
10 proportion of those mineral eleuienis nc
a cessary to the tree, and, besides, much orr
ganizrd matter received Into the plant from
the atmosphere ; soils therefore arc gain.
ing instead Of losing. If owners 81 parks
{ or groves, for neatness sake, or to obtain
: leaves, for other purposes, gather the an
~ nual harvest Of leaves, they "iil IN TINT
take away great quantities oftninsrai mat
ter by which the soil ultimately will be i'm
: poyerished, unless 1t Is restored by ma
:. nures, Fs
Leaf manure has always been held II
high esteem by gardefters. But many re
!, gard II as a purely vegetable substance
!, whereas, 1t Is the best mineral manure iha
can be applied to the soil. What arc cab
- ed vegetable loans, MOI peat soils made U
- principally Of ~deronposedn roots, contat
large quantities Of earthly matter, be'n
- mineral vegetable, rather than vegetabl
:. Soils
Every GARDENER should know that ii
:, best manure for any plant 10 tho decompo
ed leaves and .ubstance Of lis own specie
~. This fact will suggest the proper cour'
:. with reference to the leayes tops, vine
haplm, and other vegetable refuse TO Il
of garden. ..s
The other fact connected with the lea
IL its function Of exbalation. The Create
a.. proportion Of crude or sap which asccn'
,ah the trunk, upon re4ching the leaf Is give
forth again to the atmosphere by means
:. r. particularly beautiful economy. The qn"
avs tty If moisture produced by q plant Is bar
" DRAINED Of by those who have not sp
ms eially informed themselves. The e1Pe'
"a; ments Of Hales have been often quote
the A aunflowcr, three and a half feet big
az presenting a ~sirface Of 2.6l6 square !
ches exposed to the sun, was found to pc
nd spire at the rate Of twenty to thirty ounc
, Il a~voirdupois every twelve hours, or seTe
.t. teen times more than a man. Ayine, W
the twelve square feet exhaled at the rate
/ five or six ounces a day. A Seeding apT
!, 50 tree, with twelve square feet offoliage,I
,re. nine ounces a day.
,ase These are experiments upon very SIN
d to plants. The vast amount Of surface p
one scented by a large tree must give of il
the mense quantities of moisture. The Prat
orse cal bearings Of this fact Of veg table
i Of halation are not q few. Wet forest la
d by by being cleared Of timber become dry, .
inc. streams, fed from such sources, become
re 10 most extinct as civilization encrOaches
t or wild woods. The excessive daInPnesl
not crowded gardens is not singular, and
/ in. less is it strange that dwellings cove
been with vines, whose windows are cho
evis, with shrubs, and whose roof 10 overhl
ughs with branches Of trees, should be intolt
it no bly, damp, and when the good housewit
Il the scrubbing, securing, and brushing, 8
inn nevertheless, marvelIing that her bous
Ie I'm so infested with mould, she hardly susP
Tould that her troubles would be more easily
,st of moved by the axe or cav, than BY all
cloths and brushes. Ahouse should be clio
r., surrounded with shrubs. A free circula
ted in ofair should be maintained all about il,
shade trees SO disposed as to leave Ia
show. openings for The light aud sun to enter.
m u usual rains of the current season have
dog. duced so great a danpness in our resi-