THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



433 



ably, one of the reasons why we see so few good 

 seedlings brought extensively under cultivation to 

 take the places of inferior sorts. Their culture is, 

 nine cases out of ten, abandoned before their 

 merits are properly ascertained, and no doubt many 

 valuable kinds have, in consequence, been lost. 

 In proof of this, I may ask, where now are the im- 

 mense quantity of seedlings which were raised in 

 the year 1851, and three following years? What 

 has become of the many samples of seedlings ex- 

 hibited year after year at the Royal Dublin Society's 

 annual exhibition of agricultural produce ? As- 

 suredly, they are not to be seen in our markets ; 

 and, judging from the samples of potatoes sent to 

 the late show, I must say that neither my brother- 

 judges nor I considered there was any great im- 

 provement in that department. It is, therefore, to 

 be feared that in most cases their culture has not 

 been persevered in as was necessary, which is much 

 to be regretted, because in none of our root crops 

 is there more room for improvement, nor in any 

 are the means for such more at command. 



We shall now briefly notice the next topic of 

 importance in the raising of seedlings, whether po- 

 tatoes or other vegetables, namely, the means to be 

 used in order to obtain desirable results. I have 

 stated that more than one hundred kinds of pota- 

 toes have been grown in the Botanic Gardens from 

 seed, and half of them brought to a state in which 

 they can be cultivated safely as crops of that vege- 

 table; yet I doubt whether much good has been 

 done to the cause of agriculture in consequence. 

 None of the sorts yet exceed in quality that of our 

 best kinds already under cultivation ; but some of 

 them are very prolific, and show a degree of vigour 

 and freshness which prove that there is something 

 in the " new blood ", after all. The inferiority of 

 kind has, no doubt, to a considerable extent, been 

 caused by want of proper means having been taken 

 in procuring the seeds ; and similar results will 

 continne to show themselves until the raising and 

 growing of seedlings be conducted according to 

 rational and physiological principles. At present, 

 for the most part, the operations are managed in a 

 most empirical manner, simply by chance, or luck, 

 as some say. The apples containing the seeds are 

 collected when ripe, from any variety, kept during 

 the winter, and sown the ensuing spring. Nothing 

 can be more easy than this, although it be a pro- 

 cess by which thousands of seedlings may be 

 raised annually, each differing from the other in 

 some slight degree. But this is not what is wanted, 

 neither is it the way to go to work in order to ob- 

 tain improved varieties. To be a successful ope- 

 rator, one must understand fully what he seeks to 

 obtain, as well as something of the organs of 

 plants, and the functions they perform. If these 

 matters be lost sight of, very little real improve- 

 ment can be effected — it being a well-known fact 

 that seedlings raised from varieties of such plants 

 as the potato, will not rtsemble the parent plant in 

 onef-third their number, if any be exactly like it. Let 

 us suppose a case, for example, that one hundred 

 seedlings arepi-oduced from the well-known Kemp 

 potato ; the chances are that not one-half of them 

 will be kemps, or have much resemblance to them. 

 Some will very likely be even red-skinned, or have 



deep, hollow eyes, be smooth, and have diflferent 

 coloured blossoms from the true kemp. But sup- 

 pose another case — that the blossoms of a kidney 

 potato have been crossed artificially with those of 

 the kemp, and one hundred plants raised from the 

 crossed seeds ; one-third of those, at least, will be 

 of an intermediate form with the two kinds, if not 

 nearly all. Or, if a late sort be crossed with one 

 that is earlier, the prevailing j)ortion of the seed- 

 lings raised will ripen at a different period of the 

 season from either of the ])resent plants. In this 

 manner we proceed on well-known physiological 

 laws, which are under our control, and sure to 

 produce tolerably certain results. But further, 

 seedlings may be much improved without resorting 

 to cross-breeding, if due attention be paid in se- 

 lecting seeds from sorts possessing some peculiar 

 merits of excellence. Although I have stated that 

 a large portion of the produce will depart from 

 bearing much resemblance to the parent or parents, 

 yet some will adhere closely to them, and possess 

 their good or bad qualities, as the case may be, in 

 a greater degree than the parents themselves. It 

 is, therefore of much importance to be careful to 

 grow only seeds taken fi'om good sorts. To be 

 able to reason properly, and act accordingly, are 

 the chief requirements necessary to ensure suc- 

 cess. 



Having now stated what I believe to be the 

 principal causes why so few seedhngs of superior 

 merit appear in our markets, and given some brief 

 hints respecting the available means to be used for 

 ensuring improvement, I need not dwell on the 

 potato any further. I shall, however, make a few 

 remarks on some other kinds of agricultural crops 

 in connection with this matter, while the recollec- 

 tion of the great variety and excellent examples of 

 farm produce so lately exhibited here are still fresh 

 in our minds. 



In the first place, I may mention that there are 

 very few original species of plants which are cul- 

 tivated extensively in this or any other part of the 

 world, when compared with the great mass which 

 are known to inhabit the globe. It has been com- 

 puted that already more than 200,000 species are 

 known to botanists, out of which not more than 

 100, at most, are extensively cultivated — in this 

 country not more than a quarter of that number, 

 if we exclude tlie grasses, which require to be sown 

 as mixtures. This will, I dare say, appear a startling 

 statement to those who have not studied the subject, 

 and who have only been in the habit of consulting 

 nurserymens' catalogues for the seeds of plants they 

 cultivate. In those, the array of kinds set forth 

 is, no doubt, very formidable ; but the 30 or 40 

 kinds of turnips, and probably even more of cab- 

 bage tribe, are not original species ; they are only 

 varieties of three species, namely, Brassica oleracea, 

 from which the cultivated cabbage tribe have origi- 

 nated ; Brassica Napiis, being the original of all 

 the varieties of turnips, with the exception of the 

 Swede, which is supposed to have sprung from the 

 wild Brassica campestris. It is, therefore, on va- 

 rieties we depend for the principal kinds of plants 

 which are cultivated both on the farm and in the 

 garden at the present time. In a communication 

 such as this, I cannot enter fully into this extensive 



