33t 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



OOTOBKK If, 1919. 



THE FUNDAMENTALS OP BOTANY. 

 Mr C. Stuarc Gager. birecior of tlie Jjrooklju Botanic 

 Oardcn, in a comjiAratively recent textbook on botany* 

 Biiikrs a new ]ii;e of [)resentulion in giving pn mint-nce to 

 Ihe fern plant as being ite most stimulating and instructive 

 organism for the preliminary study uf life histories. After 

 describing wiih the aid of e.xcellfcnt diajjrums the alternation 

 of generations and ihe itduction of the diploid cell vvith ihe 

 haploid, he discusses some of the fundanieu al principles of 

 3ife. He writes :— 



'In the preceding paragraphs we have called attention 

 to a number of the problems which arise from the study of 

 BO lowly an organism as a fern. Some of these have been 

 partially solved — probably none of them has been completely 

 solved. In fact, we may say that our ignorance of lifiv 

 processes greatly exceeds our knowledge. Very much more 

 iremains to be ascertained than has already been found out ; 

 for example, what is protoplasm? Nobody really knows. 

 We have analyzed the substance chemically, we have carefully 

 t-xamined i.nd tried (but without complete success) to describe 

 its structure. We know it is more than merely a chemical 

 compound. It is a historical substance. A watch, as such, 

 ia not. The metal and parts of which a watch is made, have 

 it is true a past history ; but the watch comes from the hand 

 of its maker de novo, wi'.hout any past history as a watch. 

 Hut not so the plant cell. It has an ancestry as a cell ; its 

 piotoplasni has what we may call a physiological memory 

 t.f the past. It is what it is, not merely of its present con- 

 dition, but because its ancestral cells have had certain 

 experiences. We can never understand a plant protoplast 

 iiicieij i/j studying it ; we must know .something of its 

 genealogy and its past history. 



'What is the origin of the sporophyte, and how did there 

 come 1. 1 be two alternating generations? Wha', ia the 

 meaning of fertilization ; what the mechanism and laws of 

 inheritance '. How did they come to be on the earth such 

 plants as ferns ' What was the origin of life '. What is life .' 

 No one can give complete answers to these questions ; but 

 the purpose of the study of botany is to help fit ua to seek 

 the answers intclligpiitly. To those who are interested in 

 problems of this sort nothing can be more fascinating, 

 no'hing more profitable.' 



Another passage of a suggestive character deals 

 with adjustment to environment. 



'By the term environment is meant all the circumstances 

 that surround a cell, tissue, orjjan, or organism at any given 

 time, or throughout its esisience. The environment 

 of tissues and organs includes surrounding tissues and 

 organs, and the environment of cells includes the neigh 

 bouring tissues ant! cells. The moat essential thing in the 

 life' of every plant or animal is to keep in harmony with its 

 environment. Every change of environment necessitates an 

 adjastmet'on the part of the plant in order to maintuin 

 this hariiiony. Adjuslnents are most easily maile when 

 the plant is young and jilaatiC; and especially while it ia 

 dcvloping to maturity. If the amount of water in the 

 soil is diminished, the young plant will send its roots deeper, 

 if light iM euLiiely cut oil' uo chlorophyll will form. A leaf, 

 or the prothallcs of fcr!:.s, is bilaterally symmetrical 

 bccau.se the cnvironmfcDt is uniform on all aides ; the 

 same organs have dorso- ventral differentiation largely 

 krcnnse the environmrn'. i;i unlike above and below. The 



motility of spenna is an adjustment to water in" the 

 environment. Thus new variations in the environment 

 may result in ditfercnt expressions of inheritance just 

 a.= variations in inheritance would be followed by 

 differences in expression, evei) in an unchanging environ- 

 ment. In order correctly to nnderstand a plant, nothing is 

 more necessary than to remember that its characteristics are 

 the result, not of its inheritance alone, nor of its environment 

 only, but of the interaction between the two. 



♦ A brief notice was ),'i\ en <if Mr. '.0. Wtuari (iager'e look 

 'The Kiiivlcnientals of ISol^iiy ' in tha ^4if1i'■"""'^"' •^'^"'' '^*"' 

 Sej.tembw 20, 1919. r ;. ^ j ,..; 



INDUSTRIAL INSTRUCTION FOR GIRLS. 



Attention is called iu the Jounuil. of the Ji(mai(u 

 Agricultural Society for July 191!', to the need of 

 industrial assistance for girls in that colony, and it i.s 

 suggested that this could be realized if girls of suitable 

 attainments were made members of the Agi-icultural 

 Society, or of its branches. It will bo remembered thati 

 a special organization, the Girls Industrial Union, has 

 been in existence in Barbados for many years, and has 

 proved very successful. Peihap.s this example might 

 be followed in Jamaica, The following is what the 

 writer in the Journal says about the present puiitioa 

 in Jamaica : — 



t>aybydaythe question of finding suitable occupations 

 for our young girls, by which they may earii a livelihood, 

 grows more acute. At one time the opening for girls lay 

 only in domestic service into which the majority were 

 drafted. In these days the supply is much in excess of 

 the demand, and even those who would offer work cannot 

 afford to pay the girls decent wages (or rather i living 

 wage). 



In England and America and other industrial countries 

 the girls get employmt>nt in factories, but as we nave no 

 established factories to speak of for these, we are faced 

 with the urgent i|uestion of finding congenial work for our 

 girls. 



The an.swtr lies in the encouragement of industries that 

 will provide work which will pay a living wage. 



Of .such industries, I might mention the hat, basket, 

 and mat industries. There are women to day who are 

 making a living from hat making. They find a ready sale 

 for these. Institutions for girls and boys are always want- 

 ing hats. Not long ago the Instructor obtained an order 

 for fifty hats for -girls, which were supplied by some women 

 around these parts. 



This h*t industry should really be a nucleus for » 

 factory. The branch could get .'•oine of these women to 

 instruct a class of girls in hit making, and an endeavour 

 should be made to dispose of the hats in Kingston and other 

 distributing centrs. The parent society should be asked to 

 help boom the industry. 



The hat.s should be exhibited and put up for sale at all 

 Agricultural .Shows oome should hi on exliibiiion at the 

 oflire of the Society, and at the '.Self Help' in Kingston^' 

 and other town places Somu conld oven be sent to the 

 Toronto exhii ition. The shopkeejiers might be asked 

 to stock them Then a millinery .leparlment could be 

 established in connexion wiih thi.s industry and the hats 

 could be also dressed in all styles to please tue most fas- 

 tidious .lippi jappa could also be ii.^od as well as thatch 

 for making tlie hats 



The mat in*lu.stry could be encouraged in the same way, 



Tfitte are C'VU'wWhiftkfe tiiats suitable for be<3 side, window 



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