i34 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



and curious subject; but, having mentioned the 

 origins of some of the remarkable produce lately 

 exhibited, I shall only further state that the enor- 

 mous carrots we saw had their origin in the wild 

 carrot weed, which grows so abundantly on all our 

 sandy sea-coasts; and the huge mangels — long red, 

 yellow globe, red globe, &c. — are only varieties of 

 the garden beet-root, which originated from a 

 worthless weed, as it grows in a wild state in the 

 south of Europe. 



That splendid display of roots and cereals lately 

 brought within those walls were chiefly the results 

 of hybridizing, cross-breeding, and selection, thus 

 showing the power man possesses over the vege- 

 table kingdom when rightly used. They all origi- 

 nated, at some peiiod and in some way, from the 

 natural wildings of their original species ; but by 

 artificial breeding, as well as by taking advantage 

 of peculiar sportings or departures from the 

 original type, we have seen what has been accom- 

 plished, much of which has been done even within 

 a brief period. One of the most singular circum- 

 stances concerning many varieties is, that their 

 habit, after a few years' cultivation, becomes fixed, 

 and seedlings raised from them will as surely re- 

 semble the variety as those raised from the original 

 typical species resemble it. I need only refer to 

 the varieties of coleworts, peas, oats, wheat, &c., 

 to show that such is the case. Whether the merit 

 of the variety depend on a greater development of 

 cellular tissue, as in root crops, cabbages, &c., or 

 on chemical action in the increase of peculiar con- 

 stituents, as in the cereals, potato, &c., or mere 

 vigour of growth, the offsprings of those varieties 

 continue, for the most part, to produce their likes. 

 It has been said that the man who makes two 

 blades of grass grow where only one grew before. 



is a benefactor in his generation — an honour to 

 which every intelligent person may aspire who 

 knows how to take advantage of the opportunities 

 nature affords him, and will act accordingly. I 

 have stated that the merit of some varieties of 

 plants depends chiefly on mere vigour of growth, 

 which is especially the case with grasses and cereals. 

 Now, there could hardly be found a field of any of 

 those, in which seedlings may not be procured, 

 varying from the mass in this respect. By select- 

 ing those, and saving seeds from them, the tendency 

 to whatever point the good quality consists in will 

 increase every generation, until a new variety, with 

 fixed habits, will be the result. It is by the use 

 of such means, along with those I have mentioned 

 already in a previous part of this paper, that nearly 

 all the superior kinds of agricultural and horticul- 

 tural plants have been added to our stock within 

 the last half-century ; the effects of which, taken 

 in connection with the superior skill manifested in 

 their cultivation, we have so lately witnessed. I 

 am fully aware that I have only stated familiar facts 

 to some ; but I also know that many of the culti- 

 vators, and only few of the amateurs, either think 

 of or know the sources whence the plants they 

 grow have originated, although such knowledge is so 

 essential to enable us to appreciate and understand 

 the merits of those remarkable examples of farm 

 produce as they ought to be comprehended. The 

 facts now mentioned regarding the growing of seed- 

 lings, and the means of improving strains of 

 breeds from plants, may also assist in setting some 

 of our clever agriculturists and horticulturists to 

 work on the subject, so that we may, probably, yet 

 see this country become as famous for producing 

 good and pure strains of vegetables as she already is 

 for animals. — Journal of the Royal Dublin Society. 



THE GOLD FIELDS IN CALIFORNIA AND AUSTRALIA. 



The discovery of the gold fields in California and 

 Australia is an event of no trifling importance to the 

 civilized world at large, and more especially to those 

 nations in whose territories this has taken place. But, 

 although the benefit will, more or less, be shared by 

 all commercial countries, it is intended in the present 

 paper to confine the deductions as much as possible to 

 the influence and efiects exercised on the commercial 

 and the social position of the United Kingdom, into 

 which, by one channel or another, the produce of the 

 mines both of California and Australia manage to find 

 their way. 



Into the history of these discoveries it is unneces- 

 sary to enter, that having been already largely treated 

 on. That the gold fields have hitherto yielded, and 

 will, in all probability, for many years continue to 

 yield, large quantities of metal, in proportion to 

 the number of persons engaged in searching for it, is 

 the great fact to which the reader's attention will be 

 directed. As bearing upon the future condition of the 

 country previous to these " diggings," the quantity of 

 the precious metals in circulation as coin in Europe was 



very circumscribed, and quite inadequate to the re- 

 quirements of trade. This scarcity was less felt in the 

 United Kingdom than in any other country ; because 

 public credit being well-sustained, a paper circulation 

 supplied the place, in all large transactions, of a metallic 

 currency, and was, in fact, found far more convenient. 

 Still, the increase of the population and the extension 

 of trade and commerce rendered it desirable, if pos- 

 sible, to procure larger supplies of gold and silver to 

 be converted into coin. This was rendered the more 

 necessary by the state of those countries in America 

 from whence the chief supplies had been derived, and 

 which, since the commencement of the present centui'y, 

 had been in a normal state of revolution, highly 

 inimical to the working of the mines. And when it is 

 considered that previous to the year 1800 the average 

 produce of the Spanish American mines for two- 

 hundred-and-fifty years was, according to Humboldt, 

 from nine to ten millions a-year, it will be seen at once 

 what a blank must be created in commerce by even a 

 partial cessation of such a supply. Indeed, about 1820 

 they had almost wholly ceased working them ; and 



