166 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



For the New England Farmer. 



WILL GBAIN CHANGE ITS KIND ? 



Harvard, February ith, 1859. 

 Mr. Editor : — As I have lately seen in the N. 

 E. Farmer several articles on the change of one 

 kind of grain to another, I send you the follow- 

 ing extract from the '^Boston Gazette and (Jountry 

 Journal" published July 2.3d, 1759, thinking it 

 may be interesting to some of the numerous 

 readers of your valuable journal. 



Jas. I. Wyer, Jr. 



To the Author of the Grand Magazine. 



Sir : — If you have not already heard of 

 the following extraordinary instance of the pow- 

 ers of vegetation, in the transmutation of one 

 species of corn into another, I am persuaded I 

 need make no apology to trouble you, on so im- 

 portant and curious a subject. 



This phoenomenon was first observed in Swe- 

 den, where it was discovered by mere accident. 

 A countryman having sown some oats in his field, 

 and wanting provision for his horses, mowed the 

 young shoots of the grain soon after they were 

 come up. The grain shot forth again, as usual, 

 and the farmer mowed it as before. He did this, 

 at intervals, three times. The winter coming on, 

 no more blades appeared till the following spring, 

 when shooting up as before, they were permitted 

 to grow to perfection, and the crop, to the sur- 

 prise of the poor husbandman, instead of proving 

 oats, turned out absolutely good rye. This fact 

 coming to the ear of a very ingenious naturalist 

 of that country, Mr. Jop Bern Vergin, he sus- 

 pected there might be some deception, and ac- 

 cordingly in the year 1750, repeated the experi- 

 ment, observing exactly the same measures by 

 design as the countryman had takf-n by chance. 

 The result of this experiment was the same, and 

 his oats produced good rye, as that of the peas- 

 ant had done before. A circumstantial relation 

 of this extraordinary discovery was soon after- 

 wards sent to their High Mightinesses, the States 

 General, by Mr. de Marteville, their Envoy at 

 the Court of Sweden. 



Curiosity, and the desire of further knowledge 

 concerning this surprising ph(Pnomenon, induced 

 some of the naturalists of that country to try the 

 experiment again. Among the rest was Mr. Sy- 

 perstein, one of the Magistrates of Harlem, and 

 the President of the society lately established 

 there for the improvement of arts and sciences. 

 This gentleman sowed a handful of oats on the 

 21st of June, 1757, and again another on the 26th 

 of July following. The first he cropt at three 

 several times, viz., on the 29th of July, the 8th 

 of September and the 11th of November. The 

 last he cut only twice, viz., on the 13th of Sep- 

 tember, and the 18th of November. The succeed- 

 ing winter happening to prove very severe, al- 

 most all the grains perished in the earth, through 

 the inclemency of the weather. Five of them, 

 however, remaining alive, shot up in the spring, 

 and produced large and full ears of good rye, 

 which was reaped the 7th of last August. 



As the utmost care was taken in this experi- 

 ment to avoid any mixture in the grain, as well 

 as to prevent any grains of rye from falling acci- 

 dentally, or otherwise, on the spot of ground 

 sown; this transmutation, however strange it 



may appear to the ignorant, or inconsistent with 

 the systems of naturalists, is looked upon here 

 as an indubitable fact. 



AVith a view of prosecuting this discovery still 

 further, Mr. Syperstein has sown a fresh parcel 

 of oats, treating them as before. He has also 

 sown some of the rye produced from the oats, 

 which he has cropped in the same manner as he 

 did the oats that produced it. He proposes also 

 to make several experiments, with a little varia- 

 tion, in order to improve on this discovery. 



SLEEPING PLANTS. 



The sleep of plants, which was discovered by 

 Linnaeus, is caused by the diflferent influences of 

 light and darkness, cold, heat and moisture. The 

 common chickweed {Stellaria medica,) of which 

 birds are so fond, furnishes a beautiful instance 

 of the sleep of plants. Every night the leaves 

 approach each other in pairs, so as to include 

 within their upper surfaces the tender rudiments 

 of the young shoots ; and the uppermost pair 

 but one at the end of the stalk, are furnished 

 with longer leaf stalks than the others, so that 

 they can close upon the terminating pair, and 

 protect the end of the shoot. 



The flowers of the Marvel of Peru. (Mirabilis 

 jalapa,) which are very beautiful, do not open in 

 hot weather until the evening; but, if the weath- 

 er be cool, or the sun is obscured, they open in 

 the day-time. Another variety of the same 

 plant is called the four-o'clock flower, from open- 

 ing at that hour of the day. 



The scarlet pimpernel, (AnagiUis arvensis,) 

 which is a plentiful weed in corn-fields, is called 

 poor man's weather-glass, and shepherd's barom- 

 eter, from the flowers always closing before I'ain ; 

 and should the weather be ever so bright, they 

 always shut up at noon. 



The flowers of a sort of convolvulus {Bivea 

 bona-nox) are large and white, expanding only 

 at sunset, and perfuming the air to a great dis- 

 tance, with a fragrance resembling that of the 

 finest cloves. It is a native of Bengal, where it 

 rambles among the forests, and is called the 

 Midnapore creeper. 



The common goats-beard {Tragopogon pre- 

 tense) grows in many parts of Britain, and is 

 called go to-bed-at-noon, from the fact of its 

 flowers closing about that time. — Household 

 Words. 



For the New England Farmer. 



TOWi'>r, COUNTY, AND STA.TE 

 SOCIETIES. 



Dear Sir : — I am glad to learn from the pa- 

 pers that there is in contemplation a re-orgoniza- 

 tion of our Agricultural Societies, which shall 

 render them more efficient. I wish to suggest 

 a plan for this purpose, which has long been in 

 my mind. It is briefly the following : 



1st. Let there be clubs or societies in every 

 farming town, for discussion, the support of lec- 

 tures, the formation of libraries, and the exhibi- 

 tion of the results of their thought and labor. 



2d. Let there be county societies, which should 

 include these town societies, and which should 

 hold exhibiti(.'ns, at which those who had received 

 certificates of excellence at the town exhibitions, 



