No. 6. Information in ^gricidliire and Gardening. 



189 



We have been kindly furnislied by one of our valuable 

 correspondents with the following letter, in manu- 

 script, for publication in the Cabinet ; it was pub- 

 lished ill some of the Journals of the day at the time 

 when written, and will be read with interest by 

 those of our subscribers to whom the author was 

 personally known, and will be found to contain 

 valuable information for all interested in the selec- 

 tion of seeUs. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



luiportaut luforiuatioii in Agriculture 



aud Gardeuiiig* 



In a letter from Joseph Cooper, of Gloucester county, 

 jVew Jersey, to a gentleman in Philadelphia. 



Coopers' Point, 17th April, 1799. 



Respected Friend, — 



Kmd providence having- placed me in a 

 station of life which obliged me to procure a 

 living by industry, and that principally in the 

 agricultural line, it has caused me to be a 

 sfrict observer of Mie works of nature, with 

 respect to such parts of the vegetable crea- 

 tion as have come under my particular no- 

 tice, and have been greatly embarrassed at 

 the opinion very generally entertained by 

 farmers and gardeners, that changing seeds, 

 roots and plants to distant places, or different 

 soils, or climates, is beneficial to agriculture, 

 not agreeing with my observations or prac- 

 tice. This induced me to make many ex- 

 periments on that head, all of which in more 

 than forty years practice, have operated to 

 prove to my satisfaction, that the above opin- 

 ion is not well founded, and if so, must be ex- 

 tremely prejudicia.1 to jigriculture, as it turns 

 the attention of the husbandman from what 

 appears to me one great object, viz. — that of 

 selecting seeds and roots for planting, or sow- 

 ing, from such vegetables as come to the great- 

 est perfection in the soil which he cultivates. 



What induced me to make experiments on 

 that head, was observing that all kinds of 

 vegetables were continually varying in their 

 growth, quality, production, and time of ma- 

 turity. This led me to believe that the great 

 Author of nature has so constructed that 

 wonderful machine, if I may be allowed the 

 expression, as to incline every kind of soil 

 and climate to naturalize all kinds of vege- 

 tables, that it will produce at any rate, the 

 better to suit them, if the agriculturists will 

 do their part in selecting the most proper 

 seed. In support of which I will take the 

 liberty of subjoining a few facts and experi- 

 ments, out of an inconceivable number, which 

 have all combined to prove the above to my 

 eatisfaction. 



In or about the year 1746, my father pro- 

 cured the seeds of the long warty squash, 

 which have been kept on the farm ever since 

 without changing, and are now far prefera- 

 ble to what they were at first. Our early 



peas were procured from London the spring 

 betbre Braddock's defeat, and have been plant- 

 ed successively every season since on the 

 place. Tliey have not been changed, and are 

 now preferable to wliat they were when first 

 obtained. The seed of the asparagus was 

 procured from New York, in the year 1752, 

 since which time I have not planted a seed 

 but what grew on my beds, and by selecting 

 the seed fi:on\ the largest stalks I have im- 

 proved it greatly. 



A complaint is very general, that potatoes 

 of every kind degenerate, at which I am not 

 surprised, when the most proper means to 

 produce that effect is constantly practised; 

 to wit, using or selling the best, and planting 

 the refuse ; by which means almost the whole 

 of those planted are the produce of plants the 

 most degenerated, — the consideration of 

 which induced me to try an opposite method. 

 Having often observed that some plants or 

 vines produced potatoes larger, better shaped, 

 and in greater abundance than others, with- 

 out any apparent reason, except the opera- 

 tions of nature, it induced me to save a quan- 

 tity from such only for planting the ensuing 

 season ; and I was highly gratified in finding 

 their production exceed that of others of the 

 same kind planted at the same time, and 

 with every equal advantage, beyond my ex- 

 pectation, in size, shape and quantity ; this 

 induced me to continue the practice, and I am 

 satisfied that I have been fully compensated 

 for all the additional trouble. 



A circumstance happened respecting po- 

 tatoes which may be worth relating : — A wo- 

 man whom I met in market requested me to 

 bring half a bushel of sweet potatoes for seed, 

 the next market day, which I promised to do ; 

 but going through the market on that day, 

 previous to her son's coming for the potatoes, 

 I observed the woman selling such as I had 

 brought for her ; when the boy came 1 asked 

 him the reason they wanted potatoes for seed 

 while they were selling their own ; his an- 

 swer was, that his father said, if they did not 

 get seed fi-om me once in three or four years, 

 their potatoes would be good for nothing. 

 Query, if he had used the same means in 

 selecting his potatoes for planting as I did, 

 whether he would have profitted by changing 

 with one who used the other method? 



In discoursing with a fi-iend who lived at a 

 great distance from me on the above subject, 

 he introduced two instances in favour of 

 changing seed, one was asparagus, the other 

 radish seed he had from me ; the production 

 of both, he said, was preferable to any thing 

 of the kind ever seen in that neighbourliood, 

 which was near one hundred miles distant, to 

 which he ascribed the benefit; but in two or 

 three years the radishes degenerated, so as to 

 be no better than what he had before : I asked 



