SUMMER MEETING. 101 



Oreations." Whoever does so will see, at a glance, that he has not 

 been idle, nor is he any novice in such work, for although yet a young 

 man, it was he who, many years ago in Massachusetts, originated the 

 Burbank potato. 



The Japanese plums cross very readily with our own, and it is not 

 improbable, as Dr. C. B. Dennis, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has lately 

 suggested, that they are closely allied botanically with the American 

 species, and originated from a common stock. This theory, in a gen- 

 eral way, had been advanced long ago by scientists, who have thought 

 that the continents of Asia and North America were once united, and 

 that their native plants were separated by the encroachment of the sea. 

 Physiological study of the wood, leaves, and seeds of the plum long 

 since convinced me that they were much more like our own than the 

 European varieties. 



However interesting this subject may be to botanists, it is of the 

 most practical imijortance to the fruit-growers of this country. All 

 the Japanese varieties, and their progeny, are being tested, and a few 

 leading spirits are giving them special attention. Among the foremost 

 in the South are J. L. Normand, of Marksville, La. ; G. L. Taber, of 

 ■Glen St. Mary, Fla. ; P. J. Berckmans, of Augusta, Ga., and T. Y. Mun- 

 son, of Denison, Texas. To the ordinary farmer or fruit-grower, who 

 may wish to plant a few trees of these novelties of Japan, let me say, 

 do not be afraid to give them a trial. A few kinds may be planted 

 with safety. Among these are Burbank, Ogon, Sweet Botan, Satsuma 

 a.nd Yosobe, all of which will succeed from the Gulf of Mexico to the 

 ^reat Northern lakes. H. E. Yan Deman, 



Parksley, Ya., Jan. 12, 1894. In Southern Planter. 



Protoplasm. 



S. M. FARNUM. 



What is life ? The most that wise men can tell us is that the origin 

 •of life is something which they call by the queer name of potoplasm. 

 If you have a microscope, put under it a drop of water from some * 

 pond, and look among the tiny beings with which it swarms for a little 

 speck of jelly nearly round. If you watch it patiently you will see it 

 slowly change its shape ; now it is three-cornered ; now it is covered 

 with little knobs ; now it seems to be of no shape at all. This is a 

 living, feeding creature. It is what scientitic men call a simple life-cell. 



