688 



FARMERS' R E G I S T !^ R 



[No. 10 



248. Neverthelegs, in' annual or biennial planip, 

 no nieniis can he employed for propno-aiinfr a vari- 

 ety, ex,cept the seeds; and yet the variety is pre- 

 served. 



249. This ii? accomplished solely by the great 

 care of the cultivator, and happens thus. 



250. Alihouirh a seed will not ahsohitely pro- 

 pasate the individual, yet as a seed will partake 

 more of the nature of its actual parent than of 

 any thintr else, its progeny may be expected, as 

 really happens, to resemblethevarielj'- from which 

 it sprung, more than any other variety of its species. 



251. Provided its purity have not been contam- 

 inated by the intermixture of other varieties. 



252. By a careful eradication of all the varie- 

 ties from the neighborhood of that from which 

 seed is to be saved, by taking care that none but 

 the most genuine forms of a variety are preserved 

 as seed-plants, and by compelling by transplanta- 

 tion a plant to expend all its accumulated sap in 

 the nourishment of its seeds, instead of in the su- 

 perabundant production of foliage, a crop of seed 

 may be procured, the plants produced by which 

 will, in a great measure, have the peculiar proper- 

 ties of the parent variety. 



253. By a series of progressive seed-savings 

 upon the same plan, plants ivill be at \eng:th ob- 

 tained, in which the habits of the individual have 

 become as it were fixed, and capable of such ex- 

 act reproduction by seed, as to form an exception 

 to the general rule; as in Turnips, Radishes, &c. 



254. But if the least neglect occurs in taking 

 the necessary precautions (252.) to ensure a uni- 

 form crop of seed, possessing the new fixed pro- 

 perties, the race becomes deteriorated, in propor- 

 tion to the want of care that has occurred, and 

 loses its characters of individuality. 



255. In all varieties, those seeds may be expect- 

 ed to preserve their individual characters most dis- 

 tinctly which have been the best nourished (243.); 

 it is, consequently, those which should be select- 

 ed in preference (or raising nevv plants, from which 

 seed is to be saved. 



256. When seeds are first ripened, their em- 

 bryo is a mass of cellular substance, containing 

 starch, fixed carbon, or other solid matter in its 

 cavities; and in this state it will remain until 

 fitting circumstances occur to call it into active life. 



257. These fitting circumstances are, a temper- 

 ature above 32 degrees Fahr., a moist medium, 

 darkness, and exposure to air. 



258. It then absorbs the moisture of the medi- 

 um in which it lies, inhales oxygen (278.), and 

 undergoes certain chemical changes; its vital 

 powers cause it to ascend by one ^extremity for 

 the purpose of finding lidit, and of decomposing 

 its carbonic acid (279.), by parting with its accu- 

 mulated oxygen, and to descend by the other ex- 

 tremity for the purpose of finding a constant sup- 

 ply of crude nutriment. 



259. Unless these conditions are maintained, 

 seeds cannot orerminate; and, consequently an ex- 

 posure to light is fata! to their embryo, because 

 (278.) oxygen will not be absorbed in sufficient 

 quantity to stimulate the vital powers of the em- 

 bryo into action, for the purpose of parting with it 

 again, by the decomposition of the carbonic acid 

 that has been formed during its accumulation. 



X. Sap. 



260. The fluid matter which is absorbed either 

 from the earth or from the air is called sap. 



261. When it first enters a plant it consists of 

 water holding certain principles, especially carbon- 

 ic acid, in solution. 



262. These principles chiefly consist of animal 

 or vegetable matter in a state of decomposition, 

 and are energetic in proportion to their solubility, 

 or teridency to form carbonic acid by combining 

 with the ox3^gen of the air. 



233. Sap soon afterwards acquires the nature, 

 of mucilage or suo-ar, and subsequently becomes 

 still further altered by the admixture of such solu- 

 ble matter as it receives in passing in its route 

 through the alburnum, or newly iormed woody 

 tissue. (65.) 



264. When it reaches the vicinity of the leaves 

 it is attracted into them, and there, having been 

 exposed to light and air, is converted into the se- 

 cretions peculiar to the species. 



265. It finally, in its altered state, sinks down 

 the bark, whence it is given off laterally by the 

 medullary rays, and is distributed through the 

 system. 



266. No solid matter whatever can be taken up 

 by the roofs; for this reason, metals, which in the 

 state of oxydes are poisonous, are perfectly harm- 

 less in their metallic state, as mercury; and this is, 

 no doubt, the cause why liquid manure, which 

 contains all the soluble parts of manure in a fluid 

 state, acts with so much more energy than stimu- 

 lating substances in a solid state. 



267. The cause of the motion of the sap is the 

 attraction of the leaf buds and leaves. 



268* The leaf-buds called into growth by the 

 combined action of the increasing temperature and 

 !i,Q:ht of spring, decompose their carbonic acid 

 (279.), and attract fluid from thetissueimmediate- 

 Iv below them; the space so caused is filled up by 

 fiuid again attracted from below, and thus a mo- 

 tion gradually takes place in the sap from one ex- 

 tremity to the other. 



269. Consequently the motion of the sap takes 

 place first in the branches, and last in the roots. 



270. For this reason a branch of a plant sub- 

 jected to a high temperature in winter will grow, 

 while its stem is exposed to a very low tempera- 

 ture. 



271. But growth under such circumstances will 

 not be long maintained, unless the roots are se- 

 cured from the reach of frost; for, if frozen they 

 cannot act, and will, consequently be unable to re- 

 place the sap of which the stem is emptied by the 

 attraction of the buds converted into branches, 

 and by the perspiration of the leaves, (xri.) 



272. Whatever fends to inspissate the sap, such 

 as a dry and heated atmosphere, or an interrup- 

 tion of its rapid flow, or a great decomposition of 

 carbonic acid by full exposure to light, has the 

 property of causing excessive vigor to be dimin- 

 ished, and flower-buds to be produced. 



273. While, on the other hand, whatever tends 

 to dilute the sap, such as a damp atmosphere, a 

 free and uninterrupted circulation, or a great accu- 

 mulation of ox3'gen in consequence of the imper- 

 fect decomposition of carbonic acid, has the prop- 

 erty of causing excessively rapid growth, and an 

 exclusive production of leaf-buds. 



274. Inspissated or accumulated sap is, there- 

 fore, a great cause of fertility. 



275. And thin fluid, not being elaborated, is a 

 great cause of sterility. . 



276. The conversion of sap into difleren-t kinds 



