Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1878-10-12
THE DODGE CITY TIMES.
DODGE CITY. SATURDAY. OCT. 70. '7s.
THE NATURE OF VEGETATION.

THE NATURE OF VEGETATION.
Major Inmsn, in an article on the "Cii-
matte changes in the prairie region" pub
lished in the Kansas City Review Of Science
and Industry. says of ''ihe nature Of vegeta-
ton, and the process BY which vegetable
life is sustained:
IL order to fully comprehend the relations
OF forests to climate, il IA necessary to devote
little space 10 the nature Of vegetation,
and the process, by which vegetable life is
sustained.
Nearly all the inorganic matter essential
to the perfect development Of plant life is
extracted BY the secret operations Of nature
the sugar, acids and starch are derived from
the air. The rainfall Is the agent BY which
inorganic substances are 90 disposed tina, the
roots are enabled to select and as initiate
that portion which il essential to the life OF
the plant: Carbonic acid, substaacs - me-
ce~ary to the support Of vegetation - At
mospheric air to animal life, il constantly
sbsorbed BY day. BY the leaves Of plants. the
carbon OF which is separated BY them and
metamorposed into woody fibre; the oxygen
the other elemsnt Of the compound, being
rjscted, il returned to the Atmosphere. Am
mona, another important constituent in the
life OF plant, results from the decay Of an
imal matter, and is taken up BY the atmoe-
phere, from whence il 10 returned to the soil
in the rain and snow, it 10 then absorbed By
the earth and taken up BY the plant, which
separatss ID into its elements, one moiety Of
which enters isio the formation Of the wood
and the other into the gluten.
Humus, or black mould, the evidence Of
fertility in soils, il deeayed vegetable mat
ter; when the earth lie ploWed up the UNDER
lying humus 10 brought in contact with the
air and . fresh supply Of carbonic acid 10
supplied. Humus ie the source Of vegetable
production in every soil, and the impovsr-
ishment Of land IL principally owing to the
removal of the annual product without the
return Of An equivalent. When the vegetable
matter is allowed to decay ON the soil, its
richness il constantly increased, and the re-
suit, for long periods, 10 tbs mighty fertility
Of the virgin lands of the great West.
There is hardly any portion Of the great
Plains where the soil 70 not sufficiently rich
to meet ell the requirements of vegetable
life in . remarkable degree; the accumuls-
ton Of humus BY the early decay of the lux
uriant grasses that have carpeted them for
ns k,sn MINNIE. ;hI on VI 'ne n's''
e's Hsiiou''"iAi P't''"'''es'
Lime, In some Of lite combinations, consti-
suies a. an essential engredient In all the
more valuable cereai.. both grain and gres-
ses. Its presence in the soil il consequently
to he considered - condition OF fertility.
IL has powerful tendency to augment the
consoiidshon and tensclty OF land and Its
power Of retaining vaier. 1t Also promotes
the putreiacton asd decomPosltion Of hu-
mus, aac the reciprocal action OF the huids
or nutfit.ve juices contained in the soil, and
imparts It's caroonic acid 10 the humus, OF
even 70 the plant itself.
The hull or epidermis enveloping the far.
inaceous portions of grain grown on soil in
which there 10 due admixture Of calcareous
matter, and the farina itself is much greater
T..