The Osceola times., 1877-02-24
FARM AND HOUSEHOLD.
Indian Cora as = ro0A.

Indian Cora ss = rosa.
At the last meeting Of the Paris acad-
cmy of medicine, November IA, NJ. Fea,
Of Psdua, enlarged on the merits Of
maize a. an article Of food. He gave
comparative tables to show that maize is
superior To all other cereals ia fatty mat
tiers, and that it may be considered as
perfect food. He also replied to objections
/ that have been made to maize, accusing
it of giving rise to certain diseases, nOtai-
bly, pellagra and demonstrated that the
penicillium, which is supposed to orgi-
mate this disease, never attacks maize
unless 1t is damaged.
Dsekiings Moro Probable Than
Chickens.
The saying often applied to young
ducks that they eat more than they
are worth" may be very unjust one.
Several years ago we were speaking with
woman who raised yearly large mum.
bers Of ducks and chickens, regarding
the comparative amount of food con,
sumed to bring them TO their full growth.
she stated that ducks eat less in pro-
portion to their growth than chickens. Z"
Our readers may be surprised at this,
but upon giving the matter a little
thought they will understand the reasen.
II Is because the ducklings reach mstur-
ity sooner than the chickens, and. of
course, the longer it takes to bring a
creature to maturity, the greater the
expense, not only OF food, but of time
ana trouble. Experiment has demon
strated the fact that, with the same
quantity of food aud care, the ducklings,
in ninety days from the shell, may be
made to weigh nine or ten pounds per
pair or over, while chickens, in the same
leugth Of time, come to weigh only six
or seven pounds per pair. Hence the
remark quoted at the commencement Of
this paper, does not apply when duck
lings are properly and intelligently mau.
aged.-Poultry World.
The AbsorPtive Power Of soti.
II is an important discovery of recent
date, that soils have the power of separat-
ing not only ammonia but other bases also
from their solutions, and of holding them
with great tenacity after their absorp.
tion. Thus one hundred grains of clay
soil, taken from the plastic clay forma-
tion of England, absorbed 1850 or, ins of
potash from solution of caustic potash
containing ne per cent. of tho alkali. 1t
is interesting to observe that the liquid
was not, In this case, filtered through the
soil but the cold solution was merely left
in contact with IL for twelve hours.
II has been further shown that soils
have the ability to separate the alkaline
bases from the acids with which they arc
combined. When saline solution were
slowly filtered through soils five or six
inches deep, the liquids which passed
through were deprived of their alkaline
bases, ~ potash. soda, ammonia and mag
Desia, and only the acids were 20 be found
in combination with some other base.
Thus, when muriate of ammonia was
filtered through the soil, the ammonia
was removed, and CORE -ponding guam
| tity Of lime, in combination with
muratic acid, was found in the filtered
liquid. In the same way, sulphate of
potash was deprived of its base, and the
liquid collected gave sulphate of lime.
Thesc soils which have the greatest
amount of capillary porosity will con-
dense the greatest amount Of manurial
substances on their internal surfaces,
will retain thom longest against the ad.
verse solvent action Of water, and will
give them out most readily to the root
let's OF the growing plant.
A mas Of adhesive clay will absorb but
a very slight amount of available man
ure but If this same mass is rendered
friable, by mechanical processes, its
power Of absorption is amazingly in
creased. In view of what has been stated,
1t is very clear that one way in which
plowing Increases the fertility of land is
by increasing its porosity by pulveriza-
tion.
Again, many manurial INSTANCES exist
in the soil, which, being insoluble, ex-
ercises no action on the growth of plants;
but by the slow, though regular action
of the frosts and the rain, the air and the
sunshine, insoluble and refractory com.
pounds are reduced to a soluble state,
and are appropriated and held on deposit
by the soil to the credit of the next cul-
tivated crop. This explains the we'll
known fact that soils which have been
cropped to the very verge of barrenness,
will recover their fertility II allowed to
remain long enough under the action of
climatic influences TO saturate the soil
with the necessary plant-food, which
they have unlocked from their chemical
combinations, and given to the soil in
perfectly physical condition. These
changes are brought about more rapidly
when certain mechanical changes of con-
dition are wrought upon the soil
Carbonic acid is one of the most active
of the agents employed in bringing the
insoluble organic matter in the soil into
that physical condition in which it be-
comes available as plant foot. In order
that this soil may be formed, it is es-
sential that the carbonaceous matter in
the soil should be brought into direct
contact with the atmospherg, from which
they procure the oxygen necessary to
convert them into carbonic acid. So
long rs stagnant water remains in the
soil, or 40 long as the soil is in dense or
very compact condition, it is impossible
foI the carbon to be converted into acid.
Journal Of Chemistry.
Milan in Italy has 275 600 inhab-