Trefoil

“ A farmer can detect at once an attempt to substitute wholly Yellow trefoil for alfalfa seed by the fact that in no case will the kidney-shaped or the regular-pointed types of seed be found in trefoil, whereas these always occur in alfalfa. ”

“ When the seeds are ripe, the stalk of the flower gradually twists itself spirally downwards, till it touches the ground, and forcibly penetrating the earth lodges its seeds; which are thought to receive nourishment from the parent root, as they are said not to be made to grow in any other situation.
The Trifolium subterraneum, subterraneous trefoil, is another plant, which buries its seed, the globular head of the seed penetrating the earth; which, however, in this plant may be only an attempt to conceal its seeds from the ravages of birds ”

“ As we see by the frontispiece, it is not only thickly covered with arcading and statues, but also it is very much enriched with trefoils, quatrefoils, and cinquefoils, especially in the spaces over the doors in the lowest stage, and in the pediment above the great window. The prevalence of the ball-flower decoration should not escape notice; upon the third stage and the spires it constantly occurs, although it is not encountered in the first and second stages, except in the modern tracery of the west window. ”

“ Trevorrick River was but a little stream to have fretted so deep a cleft between the hills as that which sloped from the main road of Tregols parish to the sea. From the source to the engulfing sands was barely a mile, and the twinkling waters, if full and fierce in winter, showed a summer fear of their own broad stepping-stones. Nevertheless the sharp declivities, the juttings of rock, even the shelves and crags and walls of Dark Head, had been formed by the gnawing of this tiny but persistent flow. ”

“ The main requisites for a productive oil or gas field are a porous reservoir and an impervious cover. Thus, while the mineral ma be formed in a stratum other than that in which it is found, though in many cases it is indigenous to it, for the formation of a natural reservoir of the fluid (whether liquid or gas) it is necessary that there should be a suitable porous rock to contain it. ”

“ The yield of a well will depend, of course, not only on all these factors, but also on the diameter of the bore, its depth into the water-stratum, the size and number of fissures passed through, and, last and most important of all, on the absolute height of its outlet. Large pores, high average porosity, and high temperatures make for strong flows, though in the absence of pressure greater than that due to a column of water equal in height to the distance between the water-stratum and the outlet of the well, they are in themselves of no avail in the production of an artesian flow. ”

“ From the rock-oil might be made as good an illuminant as any the world knew. It also yielded gas, paraffine, lubricating oil. "In short," declared Professor Silliman, "your company have in their possession a raw material from which, by simple and not expensive process, they may manufacture very valuable products. It is worthy of note that my experiments prove that nearly the whole of the raw product may be manufactured without waste, and this solely by a well-directed process which is in practice in one of the most simple of all chemical processes." ”

“ Double Digging.—The deep trenching just described, in which the top soil was kept upon the top, and the subsoil underneath, is excellent where the subsoil is unfit for plant food, but there is a problem which it does not solve. Suppose we come to a garden matted hard upon the surface with buttercups, convolvulus, grass, twitch, groundsel, thistles and other tiresome weeds, then the last thing we desire is that these should remain on top. You cannot pull up the weeds by hand because the ground is so hard that you do no more than break the weeds, leaving the roots embedded firmly in the earth. ”

“ The oil and gas derived from the Trenton limestone in certain parts of these States were found to differ from the oil and gas in the Pennsylvania wells in chemical composition and physical properties, in the horizons from which they were obtained, in the structural features of the rocks associated with their production, and, most of all, in the kind of rock that produced them. "No facts more unexpected have ever been brought to light in connection with the geology of this country than those with which we are now becoming acquainted." ”

“ Ten grams of the finely powdered soil are placed in a flask of about 250 cubic centimeters capacity, provided with a caoutchouc stopper, through which pass two tubes, one for the supply of liquids, the other for the delivery of gas. The soil is treated with twenty cubic centimeters of water and thirty cubic centimeters of oil of vitriol; and the whole, after being thoroughly mixed, is heated for a short time in a water-bath, the object in view being the decomposition of any carbonates existing in the soil. Air is next drawn through the flask to remove any carbon dioxid which has been evolved. ”

“ When a trench is dug in the soil it is easy to distinguish the arable layer from the subsoil. In the first place, its color is different, generally being modified by vegetable débris which forms the supply of humus. The depth of the arable layer is variable, but it is most frequently between 200 and 300 millimeters. In the analysis the depth and layers should be indicated since the chemical composition of the earth varies according as the sample is taken to a greater or less depth. ”

“ Each has its own special uses for which it can be best employed, and the skill of the farmer must be exercised in determining whether the circumstances in which he is placed are such as to call specially for the one or for the other instrument. If the subsoil be a rich black mould, or a continuation of the same alluvial or other fertile soil which forms the surface—it may be turned up at once by the trench-plough without hesitation. ”

“ Professor Lane Notter, in his summing up of this ground-water question, says [6] : 'It must, however, be borne in mind that it is not the ground itself which is the cause of the disease, but the impurities in the soil which the varying level of the ground water helps to set in action.' Now, no organic impurity can possibly reach the soil from the subsoil, which is purely inorganic. Any organic impurity which reaches the ground water must, therefore, come from above, and is due in the vast majority of cases to our mismanagement [156] of organic refuse. ”

“ Each miner whose mine situated in the parts above specified is not perfectly drained in consequence of the filtration or natural gravity of the water to the general pit, is to continue a tube to communicate with the said general pit on his own account, in order fully to enjoy the benefit of the draining, it being well understood that the company shall not refuse to admit the waters of any of the mines situated in this part whatever their quantity may be. ”

“ Lime.—Two grams of fine earth is treated with a little hydrochloric acid, boiled for a few seconds, and ammonia is added to precipitate the iron and alumina; the whole, with the soil-residue, is quickly thrown on a filter to separate the mass from the lime solution, and washed. After adding ammonium chlorid the lime is precipitated with oxalate of ammonia, and its adequacy for soil-fertility judged of by the turbidity of the solution, or the bulk of the precipitate. ”

“ The rock in which the oil is found is spoken of as the reservoir, or oil-sand, and it is essential that this rock should be porous. The degree of porosity not only influences the quantity of oil which the rock can hold, but it may also influence the rate of flow of the well. Some wells may yield as little as 15 barrels per day; others may reach a production of 50,000 or 60,000 barrels per day. The porosity of the oil-bearing formation may also change from place to place and would account for the location of a profitable well at one point and a barren one a short distance from it. ”

“ It seemed, indeed, that there would be no necessity to dig the channels of which Templeton had spoken, the slope of the ground and the natural fan-like spreading of the streams promising that in due time the whole field would be thoroughly watered. Tired, but well pleased with the success of their experiment, they returned to the farmhouse.
Mr. Trenchard had been absent all the afternoon. At tea they told him what they had done, and he cheerfully assented to their suggestion that he should go with them to the ridge and see for himself their irrigation works. ”

“ By a further examination of the analyses of fertile soils, it is at once apparent that the most essential constituents of plants are by no means very abundant in them. In fact, phosphoric and sulphuric acids, lime, magnesia, and the alkalies, which in most instances make up nine-tenths of the ash of plants, form but a small portion of even the most fertile soils; while silica, which, except in the grasses, occurs in small quantity, oxide of iron which is a limited, and alumina a rare, constituent of the ash, constitute by far their larger part. ”

“ Cultivation of Truffles. —The truffle may only be grown in the midst of very favorable conditions of climate, altitude, mellowness of the soil, moisture, and proper shade. The planting of truffle trees serves as a vehicle for the spores which are later to give birth to the mycelium which itself produces the truffle. The spores of the truffles usually reach the forests in which they are grown by natural means without being particularly planted. Sometimes, however, the spores are carried directly to the soil where the new crop is to be grown. ”

“ As we have here made a beginning of treating of the marvels of Nature, we shall proceed to examine them in detail; and among them the very greatest of all, beyond a doubt, is the fact that any plant should spring up and grow without a root. Such, for instance, is the vegetable production known as the truffle;875 surrounded on every side by earth, it is connected with it by no fibres, not so much as a single thread even, while the spot in which it grows, presents neither protuberance nor cleft to the view. ”

“ The mycelium does not produce truffles until after several years of vegetation. When it once begins to fructify and produce the truffle it continues to bear for many years. The truffle, like the mushroom, grows rapidly. At first, as has already been stated, it is nourished by the mycelium, but when this is exhausted it is nourished by absorbing the nutritious elements from the soil and air. When it reaches maturity and its spores are well formed the truffle acquires its maximum of aroma and palatability. ”

“ For just as in the case of physical adsorption the long passing-through of distilled water will gradually abstract the substances condensed on the surface of the soil-grains, so an overwhelming amount of a solution of any one kind will have a tendency to substitute its own ingredients for those already present in the soil, removing the latter to a greater or less extent, even in the case of potash and phosphoric acid. ”

“ The formation where the wells are sunk consisted of sand, loose sandstone, and blue clay. When a well is dug to a considerable extent, the labourers informed us that brown earth was occasionally found.... The petroleum itself, when first taken out of the well, is of a thin watery consistence, but thickens by keeping, and in the cold weather it coagulates. Its colour at all times is a dirty green, not much unlike that of stagnant water. ”

“ In all probability coniferous trees, similar to the living firs, pines, larches, &c., gave rise for the most part to the mineral oils. The class of living coniferae is well known for the various oils which it furnishes naturally, and for others which its representatives yield on being subjected to distillation. ”

“ Compared with the sylvic oil and the sperm, the rock-oil gave on the ground glass diaphragm the whitest disc of illumination, while in turn the camphene was whiter than the rock-oil light. By the use of screens of different coloured glass, all inequalities of colour were compensated in the use of the photometer, so that the intensity of light could be more accurately compared. Compared with gas, the rock-oil gave more light than any burner used except the costly Argand consuming ten feet of gas per hour. ”

“ The mechanical treatment of arable lands by the plough, harrow, and other similar means has not only the object of facilitating the spread of roots in the ground, and of making the soil more permeable to water, but it also serves to facilitate the access of the air to the component parts of the soil; as a consequence of which the organic remains of soil rot—so to speak, breathe air and evolve carbonic anhydride. ”

“ Most of these characters are common to petroleum from various places. In one important respect, however, the product of your lands differs from that obtained in other situations, that is, it does not, by continued exposure to the air, become hard and resinous like mineral pitch or bitumen. I have been informed by those who have visited the locality, that on the surface of the earth above the springs which furnish your oil there is no crust or deposit of this sort such as have seen in other situations where petroleum or mineral tar is flowing. ”

“ The surface soil is then thrown into the bottom of the trench, and the sub-soil laid on the surface, and thus a completely new and fresh soil is offered to the plants. These partial uses of digging should, however, always be applied with great caution, as in some cases manure does better laid on the surface, so that its juices only may drain into the ground, than when it is intimately mixed with the soil; and there are cases when, from the sub-soil being of an inferior quality, trenching must be manifestly injurious. ”