1887] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



ff4r 



ous instance of providential wisdom, goodness and 

 power, which all nature is daily iinf()ldin>i to our 

 view, it itJsulIiciiMit, li)rihe prt'scnt [>iir[)i)sr, to no- 

 tice the iLict ol'the ireoirraphical distribulion ol'tlie 

 wholt! or^iraiiic worM, by this iiile of specific sell- 

 aiiaptalioii, implied in the icrai, station — it is one 

 which is aoccpte<l as a truth, iiy the common con- 

 sent of mankind, because it is Ibunded m the nat- 

 ural and necessary sequence of cause and eHect; 

 it is one which oHcrs a rational solution to the 

 dilRcidt problem, that ^qiiesiio vexaia,^ the loss of 

 our wheat crop — and it is full of interest to all, 

 more immediately, perhaps, to the agricultural 

 class of our community. On this important fact, 

 geologists too have instructed us — differing only 

 on some relative questions of theory and individu- 

 al opinion. 



At that eventful olden time when the first crea- 

 tive hands, converting chaos into form, consumma- 

 ted the great work by organic life, innuinerable evi- 

 dences are furnished, in the fossil remains, that the 

 animal and vegetable structure was simple and 

 imperfect, in conformity with the rude condition of 

 the earth, climate and other physical circumstances 

 under which they were placed. As this condition 

 altered and improved, so did their structures he- 

 come more perfect and more complex, until by an 

 uninterrupted succession of physical events, we 

 behold nature as she is, enchanting to' admira- 

 tion, and in her sublime works of mechanism and 

 design, bespeaking her divine authority; and by 

 her infinite wisdom and power, confounding the 

 mfidel, and establishing the conviction of his folly 

 and his imbecility. 



Whether this progressive improvement of ani- 

 mal and vegetable life was effected by a succes- 

 sive creation and destruction of new species, or by 

 a transmutation of the originals, and their pro- 

 gressive advancement to a more perfect state, are 

 questions not essential to our purpose; as the im- 

 portant truth remains in either case unaffected, 

 that fit stations are essential to the lile and prospe- 

 rity of the respective species, and they must find 

 them, or perish, by the established laws of nature. 



That many animal and vegetable species have 

 become extinct, since their first creation, cannot be 

 reasonably questioned; numerous fiissil evidences 

 establish the fact; yet in the general, the doctrine 

 of progressive improvement and transmutation, is 

 consistent with experience and daily observation; 

 and in the instance of our wheat plant, we have 

 many of us witnessed, and I have long since main- 

 tained upon good authority, its partial "transmuta- 

 tion"' against the bold assertions and inveterate 

 dogmas of adversary opinionists, who seem to 

 hold their creed of physiology as a code of moral 

 law; and from their sentimental asperities it would 

 seem, under equal penalties for transgression. 



Upon the fiicl of transmutation of the wheat 

 plant, much evidence might be adduced; it is suf- 

 ficient for the purpose to name that of a learned 

 friend, Mr. Featherstonhaugh, the United States' 

 geologist, whose acute observation, and high and 

 well-rnerited fame, and acquirements in the natu- 

 ral sciences, are ample pledges of its accuracy, 

 that he has seen stalks of cheat developed from a 

 grain of wheat, under the most infallible circum- 

 etances; and I might name others which leave no 

 doubt, on my mind, of the fact of transmutation 

 occasioned by the influence of variout physical 

 accidents. 



The famed Lamarck quotes many examples 



of the changes of plants in their forms, liicui- 

 ties, and even in their organization, by a charge 

 of the [ihysical conditions under which they arc 

 [)lace(l; and he justly observes, what nature brings 

 about in a great la[)se of time, we may occasion 

 suddenlj'. Some plants are made to lose their 

 thorns; some, the acridness of their juices; others- 

 have their ligneous, ct)iiverled into herbaceous 

 stems, and some, which are perennials, become an- 

 nuals; an unfavorable climate, exposure to wind», 

 and other accidental causes, may jrive rise to a 

 stunted and altered race; and ^'rnvtatls niuiaiidisJ' 



The extravagance to which Lamarck has car- 

 ried out this doctrine, should not vitiate his truths,. 

 That man shoulil have sprung from a monad of'an- 

 imated matter, and by progressive improvement 

 have arrived at his present state of superiority, is 

 absurd; yet it is unphilosophic to reject, absolute- 

 ly, physical, moral, or religious truths, because 

 they may have been mingled with fanaticism, or 

 extended to absurdities. Gold is not contamina- 

 ted by the base matrix in which it may be found, 

 nor should the lights of truth, which this talented 

 author may have thrown upon this interesting 

 question, be extinguished by his casual follies; his 

 lucid intervals make ample amends fbr his odious 

 hallucinations. 



We will leave this controversy, and revert to the 

 important and settled truth, that plants as well as 

 animals require certain physical conditions for 

 their well-being, an essential point of which is 

 climate, which for causes not fully known, has 

 been, and continues to be, suffering variations 

 throughout the globe, and tending to a diminution 

 of teihperature; and consequently no locality con- 

 tinues to be suitable for the same vegetable or an- 

 imal at all times; and if our crops are not changed 

 with the change of climate, by the force of intel- 

 ligence and judtjment^ they will perish and disap- 

 point us; they will change themselves by the force 

 of the laws of nature. 



In the present regions of Siberia, and many 

 other northern countries, are found direct proofs of 

 this fact, in the fossil remains of living species, the 

 elephant, the lion, the tiger, the tree fern, the 

 palm, and many others, as we are informed by 

 Mr. Lyell and other distinguished naturalists, in- 

 habitants now, only of more temperate climates. 



To this cause, then, this gradual but continued 

 lowering of the temperature of the globe, may be 

 refiirred the failure of our wheat crops; and hence 

 may be seen the necessity to supply the loss by 

 others, adapted to the new physical condition of 

 the country. 



Twenty years and more have borne witness to 

 the fact, that this great staple with us, is annually 

 declining; the progress of this evil, though gradu- 

 al, has been with few exceptions constant, and 

 within the last few years, alarmingly conspicuous. 

 The progressive revolution of the climate has been 

 equally manifest, to all who are in the habit of 

 observation, clearly indicating the cause and the 

 effect; this essential incident of station, once so 

 congenial to the development of our favorite plant, 

 has assumed a new character adversary to its 

 physiological constitution. 



With the decline of the general temperature of 

 the globe fbr ages past, and established upon ac- 

 cunmlated and unquestionable evidences, collect- 

 ed by distinguished naturaliits already named, an- 



