PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANNUAL MEETING 121 



BOD VARIATION IN PLANTS. 

 BY MK. R. M. KELLOGG OF THREE RIVERS. 



Variation is one of iiatiiir's iimiiutablo laws. There were never two 

 persons or two plants exactly alike, and this i>rinciple also holds good in 

 applied science. The artist, having painted a picture, can never paint 

 another exactly like it. Ships built from the same drawings and specifica- 

 tions would behave dilTerently in the water. A skillful engineer readily 

 detects the substitution of an engine built from the same patterns as his 

 own pet machine, by its behavior on the track. No two persons have 

 exactl}' the same temperament or will follow the same line of action, 

 under the same conditions. 



The dividing line between animal and plant life has never been defi- 

 nitely determined. In many of the lower orders there is great similarity. 

 The higher animals, though born of two parents, often take a greater 

 impress from one than from the other. A family of children born in 

 different places, with different surroundings, seldom have a strong family 

 resemblance, while twins closelj' resemble each other because thej^ are 

 born under the same circumstances. Mulatto children of the same family 

 often vary widely in shades of color. There are many species of animal 

 and varieties of plant which originally sprang from the same parents, and 

 their difl'erences are due entirely to changed conditions and environ- 

 ments. 



The life principle or germ plasm of a plant is pronounced by scientists 

 to be the same as that of the animal. There seems to be in the form 

 of higher animals but one individual life germ. Its location in the body 

 is still a mystery. The surgeon can not divide the body and create two 

 new lives, which is successfully done with the plant; the latter seeming to 

 be a colony of lives. The germ plasm of the plant has the power to divide 

 itself, and in a mysterious way take up its abode in the cell tissues of 

 the nodes and internodes, and yet one life seems to actuate the whole plant 

 until these dormant germs are excited into activity, when they become a 

 new being born of only one parent. Thus we are able to multiply plants 

 by buds and cuttings. Such plants more closely resemble each other 

 because they receive the impress of only one parent; yet, under widely 

 changed conditions, great variations take place. Many of our most valu- 

 able varieties are nothing but bud variations or sports. 



This society has been discussing the merits of varieties for years, and 

 yet not one of us can today name the best apple, peach, or berry. He may 

 be able to say which variety docs best for him with his particular soil 

 and method of culture, but when the plants are changed to other soil of 

 different fertility and tillage, he can not tell what variations will take 

 place. These discussions are valuable because certain sorts seem quite 

 cosmopolitan in character, and have the faculty of adapting themselves 

 to new conditions with but slight variation, and a knowledge of the be- 

 havior of these varieties over wide areas is very desirable because it 

 enables the planter to reduce the chance of failure to the minimum. 

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