12 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



duction of even so much as a single head of 

 cheat from a grain of wheat. In the five or 

 six years since this reward was offered, there 

 has been no claim for it presented, (possibly 

 because of the small value of the reward, or 

 its want of notoriety,) and, moreover, though 

 assertions of belief have been plenty, not one 

 atom of evidence of transmutation has been 

 brought forward, which ought to satisfy a sci- 

 entific or legal tribunal. And we here repeat 

 the offer of a reward, and increase it to the 

 amount of $100, which we offer for the first 

 clearly and positively pi'oved fact of the pro- 

 duction of cheat from seed of wheat sown for 

 that pui-pose, and of which the progress from ! 

 the seed to the product shall be indisputably 

 traced, and proved to the satisfaction of an intel- , 

 ligent scientific umpire. This offer we re- ', 

 quest the editors of the Whig to make known i 

 through their widely circulating journal ; and ! 

 if a claim for the reward should be made, we 

 will leave the decision to judges, to whom 

 there can be no proper ground of objection. 

 If it is so very easy to cause the transmuta- 

 tion of wheat to cheat, as is averred and be- 

 lieved by most persons, and by so many 

 modes and agents that it can scarcely be 

 avoided altogether in the common practice of 

 every seed time, then, surely an experimenter, 

 aiming to produce that common result, by 

 using any and all the agents deemed as effi- 

 cient causes, might certainly and easily pro- 

 duce the now disputed result, and so clearly as 

 to place the question beyond all future dispute. 

 Until this is done, we shall remain unbelievers 

 in the doctrine of transmutation of wheat to 

 cheat, as well as (what is as firmly believed by 

 some other persons) of wheat to spelt, (or dar- 

 nel,) or to cockle, or of oats and flax to cheat. 

 What would be thought of any doctrine of 

 physical science affirming that a certain pro- 

 duct would follow the use of certain easily 

 available means, and yet, by no possible de- 

 signed direction of the means, could the pro- 

 duct be obtained ! Therefore, to those persons 

 who know of so many facts of foregone trans- 

 mutations of wheat to cheat — who know of 

 so many causes and agents which will certain- 

 ly produce such effects, we say — " Let us pass 

 by all remote and former operations and 

 grounds for either asserting or denying the 

 doctrine. Go to work now, and exhibit new 

 facts and new proofs — or even but a single 

 fact amounting to proof, and the question will 

 be settled as you claim." If it were a matter 

 to be settled by the respectability and credi- 

 bility of believers, there would be no question 

 better settled already. But that is not the 

 ground to decide questions of science upon. 

 We want facts, and not reference to authority, 

 no matter how respectable. There has been 

 no formerly prevailing absurdity of opinion 



! which the world has since shaken off, which 

 in its day did not have the balance of authori- 

 ty of the most numerous and respectable be- 

 lievers in its favor. We do not question the 

 sincerity of belief, the good faith, or the vera- 

 city of any one who asserts the doctrine of 

 transmutation ; but we distrust the strict ac- 

 curacy of his reasoning, and the continuity of 

 his chain of facts, from the first cause to the 

 last effect. Therefore, without meaning the 

 slightest disrespect to our brother editors of 

 the Whig, or any other transmutationists, we 

 must beg leave to sa)'', in the words of Esop, 

 "Do not tell us how far you jumped at Rhodes, 

 but jump here, and let us see it." 



To avoid frivolous as well as fraudulent 

 claims for our offered reward, it is proper to 

 impose some restrictions, and to establish 

 some rule, by which an accurate mode of ex- 

 perimenting and truly reported results shall be 

 secured. Therefore we require of any one 

 who may design to claim the reward, and the 

 honor of settling this long disputed question, 

 that he shall give previous notice of his intend- 

 ed experiments, through the Farmers' Regis- 

 ter, and that the plan of experiment, designed to 

 be pursued, shall be also fully and particularly 

 there and then set forth. The person shall, at 

 the same time, name some one respectable, in- 

 telligent and distinguished farmer, and we will 

 name another— and the two shall appoint a 

 third person of competent ability to conduct the 

 like experiment, and who shall endeavor to ob- 

 serve every condition and care required by 

 the claimant, and which person shall decide 

 upon the results without appeal. If, however, 

 the conditions proposed for the experiment are 

 manifestly insufficient, and such as could lead 

 to no certain result, the chosen arbiter may ob- 

 ject to them at first, and refuse to try, or decide 

 by, an experiment so faulty as to lead to nothing 

 but useless trouble. But by giving early no- 

 tice, every proper and necessary condition can 

 be adjusted, every objection removed, and the 

 results made as certain as any can be in regard 

 to vegetable reproduction. We invite the 

 writer of the foregoing extract, (who is a farm- 

 er,) to achieve the labor he deems so light — 

 and earn the reward and the honor of proving 

 what he pronounces not only certain, but un- 

 disputed. In the mean time, we submit to his 

 consideration the only experiment which we 

 have yet known to be carried through for 

 this object, and than which we cannot imagine 

 one more flivorable to the transmutation side, 

 or a more strict test of the opposite opinion. 



f' Experiment to test the possibility of wheat dege- 

 nerating into cheat. {From vol. i., Farmer's 

 Register, p. S3.] 



" October 20lh 1832. A spot about twenty feet 

 square on one side of a field of corn, was left out 

 when all the adjacent ground was ploughed and 



