The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1877-11-07


tended an experiment made at vincennes,
where ordinary barley exacts 100 days for
ripening. Some grain imported from Alten
was sown there on the 18th OF April and har-
vested on the 18th Of June. showing gain OF
81 days on the French cereal.
Like results have attended experiments
carried out at the botanical garden of
Christiania in the case of corn, cats,
beans, peas, and meadow grass In att
these instances IL was demonstrated that
seed brought from the far north fur-
nished varieties of remarkable prccoci-
ty, which only lost their advance after
several generations, when they gradually
became acclimatizcd. The fact. moreover,
Is recognized in the current practice of Nor
wcgian farmers. To gain some days on the
usual date of harvesting is obviou-lya mat
ter Of no small moment in country where
frosts arrive with september, and often hin-
der grain from rpcning Accordingly we find
that the cereals Of high ATTITUDES, and cspc-
cially Alien barley, are in great request
throughout the scandinavian peninsula for
seed grain. With it crops can he got III
twenty or thirty days earlier during the
first year: subsequently, the difference Is
less. and after three or four yours the seed
must be renewed In southern Green
land, likewise Alien barley * used, no
seed grain being imported from coun-
tries situated below the siXty-cighth
parallel. The farmers of Iceland, too, SOW
barley brought from Alton or from the
shores of the White sea. Thus it appears
that the most northern provinces of Norway
are the great purvcyors OF seed grain TO
other cold countries lying in high ATTITUDES,
and this is especially true Of the Scandna-
vian kingdom, whore bad crop in the north
is accounted a national calamity.
The rapid development Of plants Is not the
only symptom of special influences and con-
ditions belonging To an arctic or sub-arctic
climate. II appears that cereals imported
from the southern countries Of Europe aud
sown in Norway gain both in size and
weight whereas Norwegian grain trans
fcrrcd to French or German soil loses IN
volume and density In the casc Of barley
ought from Chri-tlania and planted at
btc-au. the average weight of the grain
fell twenty-five per cent VI. TissERAND
found that it was hylrates of carbon which
were most conspicuously augmented in the
tissues Of Norwegian vegetables II is
therefore reduction of carbonic acid
through the leaves of plants which seems to
bc particularly accelerated in high ATTITUDES,
and. since this process Is carried out under
the influence of light, it appears rca -onahlc
to attribute the extraordinary activity of
vegetation in Norway to the persistence Of
the solar radiation through the long days az
summer. II Is estimated, indeed, that the
sum 81 heat received at Alien ON a given
day, when the sun remains twentr hours
above the horizon, is greater than that
radiatcd over northern Germany within the
same term at the same epoch, nUtwlthstand-
Ing the greater elevation Of the sun IN the
latter latitude
Other observations confirm this conclu-
sion. The augmented action Of light during
"A brief period Il manifested in the more in
| tense coluring Of the vegetation In pro
portion a. you ascend tn coast IN Norway
you find the grain Of a deeper hue. The
white, scmi-tr,.n@parcnt kernels Of southern
wheat grow opaque aud brown; the white
varieties II beans become yellow. brown. or
green. \ like tendency to emphasis is re-
marked IN the green Tissues of trees. ~h.1ihs.
ana vegetables. The tints OF flowers. like
wise. are more pronounccl; some species,
which are white or pale bur in our tenn
porate climates. change 90 scarlet or gold in
Norway. Finally, we may note that the aro-
matte principles of plants are also signally
intensified in high ATTITUDES. Celery and the
onion, for instance, acquire a SAVIOR $50 much
krcncr that according to VI TlssrGANp
French cooks coming 10 Stockholm or Chris
tiauia are iorccl to make "A radical change
in their employment ~ those vegetables.
The most fragrant cummin seed in the
world IL produced in the above-named dis
trict of Alien on the cd.gn Of the Arctic cir
cic and the lavender and mint Of Drouthoim
are far richer in essential oils than are the
same plants grown in English soil. We may
add that Norwegian tohaccois exceptionally
| Atrtur