The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1880-08-04

forces, tor the time, are excited. But
every pulsation of the heart, and
every expansion and contraction OF
the lungs use certain portion OF
blood and muscular fibre which is
disorganized and consumed. This
consumption of tissue, however, has
not been provided for in the brandy.
for the material required for it is not
contained in it. Consequently, as
soon as the carbon OF the spirit has
been used up and consumed, the tenn.
porary excitement passes away and
the person is much weaker than be.
tore, because the tissues of the body
itself has been worn out to a certain
extent, and no repairing material
has been supplied. In the same man.
ner we might suppose steam engine
TO be provided with some means OF
self-repalr to replace all that might
be lost by working constantly at the
rate Of 100 revolutions in a minute.
1t gallon OF oil were thrown into
the fire, and a greater heat produced,
the presence OF steam would be in.
creased, and the engine might make
200 revolutions in the minute. Then
the waste Of this excessive motion
would not be made good, and if it
were often repeated the engine would
be worn out. The brandy in the one
case and the oil in the other would
be stimulants. No; we do not be.
lieve this process can be carried on
with plants. We have no reason to
believe that growing vegetables can
be made to exert vital force, or
make an increased exertion in one di-
rection, at the expense OF one partic
ular part of the plant, excepting un.
der such circumstances as when tree
is cut down and the leaves continue
to grow at the expense of the sap re.
naming in the stem and branches, or
when wheat is harvested when not
1il2a and lhe rinanihg nrecess cnAsan
at the expense of the straw. These
however, are distinguishable from
the bare question, and can we max,
q plant grow and increase by feeding
it with some single element of nutri
tion only without others combined
with it; can we, in short feed it with
stimulants To this question a neg
ative reply must be given. For {
plant consists of certain substances
which it draws from the soil or air
These are nitrogen, carbonic acid
oxygen, phosphoric acid,potash, lime
soda, magnesia, sulphuric acid, silica
chlorine, and some others in very
small quantity. If but one of these
is deficient in quantity, the growth
is weekend or stopped, and the plant
is diseased or dies. If any one is
supplied in excess, the plant will not
take it, but it remains in the soil un.
used So that we cannot stimulate,
in the strict meaning of the word, any
plant, however much we might desire
to do SO. We can feed it by supply.
ing food which consists of all the ell
ements required for plant growth, but
we can do nothing else. So that we
cannot consider any fertilizer we may
use as a stimulant, but only as food.
But there are fertilizers which act
upon the soil as stimulants, although
they do not thus act upon plants.
For instance, we may apply fifty
| bushels of lime to a field, we may
double the yield of clover, grass, or
grain. The lime is then stimulant
to the soil in a certain sense, because
it decomposes vegetable and mineral
matter that would otherwise be inert,
and make it soluble and useful as
plant food, and to increase the sup.
ply at the expense of the stock in re.
serve. But it is in no way stimu.
liant to the plant. And in its action
upon the soil it exhausts it of stored
up fertilizing elements that would
otherwise remain inert or only slowly
soluble. Plaster and potash act in
the same way, because of their effect
upon the soils. But we should not
forget that, as a plant cannot thrive
in any soil if one element only be
wanting, if We can by any means add
that element TO the soil, we enable
the plant to grow with just so much
vigor as can be supported by the
least abundant OF the needed elements
existing in the soil. Then, if a crop
does not thrive and we add potash,
or nitrogen, or phosphorus acid to