Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1884-01-25
Agricultural.
Dr. Cuttings lecture on FertiliScrs
and FERTILIZATION.

first commended as leading to a knowledge Of
grand significance in itself as well as guiding
us to practical results The philosophy Of
the growth and subsistence Of the living plant
is a noble study for the husbandmau. We
must first understand how the plant that we
would nourish grows, and then how we can
feed it, Plants derive about 97l per cent Of
their subsistence from the Atmospheric
Of them as much as 90 per cent but the
small per cent that comes from the earth is
essential to the existence Of the plant. Only
thirteen elements usually enter into the com
position Of plants. These. are carbon, oxy.
gen, hydrogen, nitrogen calcium, magnesium,
potassium, sodium, iron, sulphur, phosphorus,
silicon and chlorine. The first four OF these
carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen-it
is now generally conceded are derived from or
through the atmosphere. We are best &C.
quainted with the part Of the, plant above the
ground; il we pull the plant up to examine
the roots, we generally strip of and destroy
all the little mouths that feed it, leaving them
in the soil. These innumerable little rootets
that bear the mouths would hardly be known
to exist by the careless observer. The soil
should be carefully washed from the plant
without pulling it from the earth, that we may
see these little rootlets. The mouths that
feed the plant are upon little hairs or points
that grow upon the sides Of the rootlets.
With a microscope that magnifes so as to
make the edge Of a razor look as broad as two
fingers, these feeding. mouths may be seen,
and they cannot be seen With glass of much
less magnifying power. From this fact we
can get some idea Of the extremely dilute
state of the mineral substances which feed
the plant, when in a condition to be taken up
by these microscopic mouths. The solution
must be nearly or quite oolorless and odor-
less. The coloring matter in washes is often
injurious rather than beneficial to vegetation.
The soil of Vermont supplies in abundance
ali the mineral elements required by the plant
with the exception, usually, of not more than
two or three, and frequently not more than
one. Either phosphorus or potassium is the
mineral most generally needed by our soils
Sometimes both are deficient, and the want
must be supplied before we can raise full
crops. There is often an insufficient supply
of chlorine, and the soil is consequently ben.
Gifted by the application of a small quantity
of salt In some places lime is needed
Nitrogen, though supplied from the atmos
phere, is taken up by the roots. 1t is the
most costly ingredient of commercial fertiiz-
ers, but the lecturer was inclined to believe
that, if everything else was supplied, the nj
trogen would take care Of itself the plant
- /
An excess of heterogeneous fertilizer gives corn
rapid growth and dark green color but at
harvesting there is lack of ears; they are
covered with a very thick husk, but not filled
out the fodder shriuks in drying, and the
weight is less than was expected. Properly
fertilized, the kernels will fill the cob to the
very tip. An excess Of nitrogen in the soil
causes grass 10 lodge and Injuries its quality.
He was aware that the authorities taught, in
books, the necessity Of supplying nitrogen to
the soil. The books are not always right.
The textbooks of natural philosophy now in
use in schools teach that rihe-ball or any
body projected upward will return in the
same time and with the same force that it was
projected. DR.. Cutting finds from actual ex.
pertinent that a rife-bsll will not fall with
sufficient force to bed itself in a plank.
The lecturer gave large number of illus
trations, many of them drawn from his OWE
experience, showing the immense expansion
of the roots of plants in their instructive
search for food. He examined his cornfield
planted in hills four feet apart each way, with
out being able to find single cubic inch oil
soil, one inch below the surface that was moi
permeated with rootlets of the corn to the
depth of at least ten inches. In Randolph
VT, the roots of an elm $40 feet away, search
ing for water, entered log squeduct and fol
lowed it several feet, finally growing SO as tC
completely fill the passage. In Lunenburg
soldier, after having been buried for severa
years, was to be disinterred for removal 4
root, which was traced to maple tree stand
ing 20 feet from the burial.pace, had entered
the coffin and filled it completely with a net
work of fbrous rootlets, raising the lid by til,
pressure. There was no body there; it baC
become food for the maple. A squash grown
in box by Prof. Clark of Amherst Mass
had an aggregate length of roots of over 200,
feet. Such facts as these show the folly o
using any fertilizer in the hill You canno
hide it in your field so the roots will not fine
it. If spread on and distributed in the soil
they will find a uniform supply through tn
season, instead of too much at one time AM
not enough at another.
Few people are aware how much water !
taken up by the roots of plants and evaporat
ed by their leaves. A sunhower, having
lfsf-suHace Of 30 square feet, has been fount
to eyaporate three pounds of water daily.
cabbage with leaf surface of 10 square fee
exhaled the same quantity, The grasses OK
hale from one and half 10 five pounds pc
square foot daily, beans half their weight, an
corn, when in full growth, even more tina
that The grains and grasses eysporate eve
more than their weight Of water each day
Three tons or more of water are taken dali
from each acre of the soil of our meadow.
and ten tons every day from an acre Of corn
This is the water in which the mineral foo
needed for the plant is dissolved When tbi
mineral food is divided into nine parts-fo
only about nine mineral elements enter int
the composition Of plants, and altogether COL
stitute but two or three per cent of their sui
stance, aud it is considered that at least hal
OF these will never be exhausted, even in pari
in the poorest Vermont soil, probably nc
more than one or two partially exhausted
can be seen how little we need to supply: ye
that little is just as indispensable as the Ieas
cog in the least wheel of watch. So far W
can understand but the principle of the life
giving force is still mystery. The seeds i
the catkin of the willow, if placed in a dr.
spot in the warm sun, lose their vitality in
few hours. The life-principle, whatever it il
is gone. On the other hand, the seeds of th
cherry remain in the soil and retain their v
tallty for hundreds of years, and spring u
where the old forest has been cleared away
Seeds eXhumed at Hercuaueum and Pompei
after being buried more than 1900 years, hay
terminated
Plants may be over-fed, as well as aninali
Too much is applied at one time. No on
would feed horse barrel of oats at a sinpl
foddering and expect it to last him month
small amount of salt is often beneficial, br
all farmers know that a large amount will HI
the crop, and a slight excess will iniure i
The same is true of all other fertilizers.
The lecturer had experimental in appl,
inc 81 n