AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



HlJBLISHEU BY JOSEPH BREGK & CO., NO. 52, NORTH MARKET STREET, (Agricultural Warehodse.)— T. G. FESSENOEN, EDITOR. 



vol.. XVI. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 1, 1837. 



NO. 17. 



^^m!S<S^lS>"3'Wi^^ffi,=. 



{From the Fanner's Miicazitie. ) 

 ON THE NECESSITY OP CHANGING SEED. 



"Have you found it of service to change the seed 

 of plants, from one soil or cliir.ate, to another, 

 nnd vvliy .' From the ahnost universal adoption 

 of tlie practice, it seems tliat experience ha.s 

 fully justified it. In the case of exotics, that do 

 not arrive at perfection in an alien climate, it 

 does not seem wonderful; out in the case of 

 naturalized vcgetahles, I cannot explain it." — 

 Balk Society Papers. 



Sm: — Not having- access to a complete set of 

 your useful work, I am not aware of what discus- 

 sions it has furnished on the subject of the neces- 

 sity of a change of seed, in the cultivation of Torn ; 

 but, as au endeavor, however humble, to fix the 

 principles of that necessity, may, at the approach- 

 ing season, not be uninteresting to fanners, I have 

 taken the liberty of submitting what has occurred 

 to ine, from an imperfect consideration of it. 



I understand a belief in an abstract necessity 

 for an occasional change of seed, to be very gen- 

 erally entertained, and to be founded on a sup- 

 posed repugnance between the soil of a farm, and 

 a succession of plants, descenilcd from a particular 

 stock of seed. This antipathy is said to bo a si:- 

 cret principle in the economy of plants; and those 

 with whom 1 have conversed, unable to account 

 for it, consider it sufficient to say, the .soil tires of 

 the plants, or the plants of the soil. lu this, it 

 appears to me, there is much delusion ; for I liold 

 that, abstractedly, there is no efficacy in, and 

 therefore no necessity for, a change of seed. — 

 The grounds of this opinion I shrll endeavor to 

 explain. 



Without going into the never-to-be-detcrmined 

 question. What is the food of plants ? I take it 

 for granted, that each species of vegetable has its 

 peculiar pabu-lum ; and that this peculiar matter 

 must exist in the soil in wbicli the seed of that 

 jdant is sown, otherwise it will not be jiroduced 

 in a perfec^state. If any particular species of 

 vegetable be repeatedly cultivated in the same 

 field, it may so exhaust its food in that soil, that 

 the latter will become unlit to produce the plant 

 in perfection ; and other circumstances, such as 

 the application of certain manures, may incapa- 

 citate a piece of land from carrying a particular 

 species of plant to maturity. But, in this case, a 

 mere change of seed will not prove a remedy. — 

 Something must be done to restore to the land 

 the pabulum of the jjlant sought to he cultivated 

 in it, otherwise a change of seed will prove of no 

 avail. Again, I conceive that a plant, after being 

 deteriorated by unfitness of soil, inadequacy of 

 climate, or taulty cultivation, may be restored, by 

 being transferred to better soil, or a more genial 

 climate, or by being inore carefully cultivated. — 

 But this is no proof of an abstract efficacy in a 

 change of seed. Here there is a concomitant 



change of circuuistances, which plainly accounts 

 for the improvement ; for we are entitled to hold 

 thit ccjrn, once degenerated, cannot he re-pro- 

 duced in a more vigorous state, unless it he trans- 

 ferred tolaud diffijrent in the circumstances either 

 of (rliuiate, soil or mode of cultivation. Still (ur- 

 tlier, corn crops may degenerate by the gradual 

 operation of ail unfavorable climate, or by the nat- 

 ural barrenness of the soil in which they are rais- 

 ed. !u such a case, the farmer finds an advantage 

 in having recourse to fresh seed, the ])roduce of a 

 more genial climate or belter land, or even t.f a 

 neighboring farm, under the saiiie circumstances 

 of soil and climate as his own, if the coin pro- 

 duced ou that farm, from being more nearly re- 

 lated to a good stock of seed, liappens to be less 

 <legenerated. This, however, does not furnish 

 evidence of an abstract efficacy in a change of 

 seed; for jt is t^lear that the farmer woidd not 

 have bettered his circumstances had he not ob- 

 tained seed of a quality superior to what was pro- 

 duced ou his farm. Again, we know that crops 

 may become deteriorated, by the adoption of the 

 too general practice of sowing corn nearly as it 

 grows, using little pains to separate the good seeds 

 fiom weak and imperfect ones ; or by a faulty 

 rotation, or by many other circumstances of mis- 

 management. In such a case, it may be a tem- 

 porary improvement to obtain a fresh supply ol 

 seed. Bui tliis docs in^t t'stal>l-«Jj tlio nbaiiaci ef- 

 ficacy of a change; for still the improveme.Tt de- 

 pends solely on the fanner havuig selected seed 

 of a quality better than his own, otherwise it would 

 be absurd to suppose that his crops could have 

 been iiulioiated by a change. In short, in every 

 supposahle case of change of seed, any improve- 

 ment that takes place, must be the eflect of some 

 conco'nitaut change of obvious circumstanies ; 

 and the necessity of the change seems to have no 

 relation to ihe je ne sais qiioi, that mysterious an- 

 tipathy between the soil and a particular race of 

 jdants, which is said to be excited by their long 

 familiarity. This is the abstract necessity of 

 which I presume to dispute the existence ; main- 

 taining that there is no necessity for 'changing the 

 seed of plants from (Uie soil or climate to another, 

 unless ill the case of a degeneracy of crops, fron. 

 some of the obvious causes I have alluded to ; — 

 and in such a case, an improvement can be effec- 

 ted only by obtaining a supply of better seed. — 

 This too, is the only case in which there cau be 

 any efficacy m a change, except the object be to ob- 

 tain a better uane/i/ of a particular plant than what 

 is already possessed. With this view, it may be 

 justifiable to sow seed, though even inferior, as a 

 sample to what is already produced on the farm, 

 if superiority of soil, climate or cultivation, afford 

 a reasonable prospect of improving the quality of 

 the new variety. 1 am quite aware of the nicety of 

 this question, and sensible of my own irscouipe- 

 tency to the discussion of it; but I shall think I 

 have done enough, if some of your enlightened 

 correspondents should be induced, from what I 

 have said, to edify us with their sentiments. 



POISON OAK. 



Middle River, Sep. 16, 1837. 



Mr Dav\so!v, — Sir: I have suffered much in 

 my family, by one of my daughters inadvertently 

 chewing a plant called Poison Oak. She fell a 

 prickling in her innutli in a few minutes, and in 

 twenty-four hours her face swelled iTiuch. Four 

 days alter, it ha<l so increased thatshe could hard- 

 ly be known by her ac<piaintances. The swelling 

 spread over her face ; her teeth became loose ; 

 her ears ached, and she was not only in great ag- 

 (uiy, but nearly ileprived of her reason. It is nihe 

 day since she chewed it, and she now appears to 

 be getting better. Her brother also suffered much, 

 having his face and hands greatly swelled and 

 blistered, by touching the plant. 



If, by inserting this in the Bee, you could pre- 

 vent one individual from suffering, I think it 

 would be worthy of a place. 



Sir, vours siiu:erely, 



ROBERT OLIVER. 



As the poisonous plant referred to above, grows 

 plentifully in this country, we give the following 

 sketch of its history : [Pictou JV. B. Bee. 



The Rhus Toxica dendron, or Poison Oak, has 

 the form of a shrub, frotn one to three feet high, 

 with leaflets angularly indented, and pubescent 

 l>ciicatb. But this character of the foliage is prob- 

 ably not constant, Mid the stunteil growth may, in 

 many cases, be owing to peculiarities of situation. 

 It grows in woods, fields, and along fences. It 

 flowers in June and July. When wounded, it 

 emits a milky juice, which becomes black on ex- 

 posure to air, and leaves upon linen or other cloth, 

 a stain which cannot afterwards be removed by 

 washing with soaj) and water, or by alcohol, ei- 

 ther hot or cold, but deepens by age. Tlie juice 

 applied to the skin fiequently produces inflamma- 

 tion, and the same ])oisonous property is posses- 

 sed by a volatile principle, which escapes from 

 the plant itself, and produces in persons who come 

 into its vicinity, an exceedingly troublesome ery- 

 sipalus aflX'Ction, particularly of the face, itching, 

 redness, a sense of burning, tumefaction, viscita- 

 tion nnd ultimate disquamation, are some of the 

 attendants of this poisonous weed. The swelling 

 of the fare is sometimes to great, as almost en- 

 tirely to obliterate the features. The efiects are 

 experienced soon alter the exposure, and usually 

 begin to decline within a week. 



A light cooling regimen, with saline purgatives, 

 and the local use of lead water, are the best rem- 

 edies. Its effects, when applied internally, does 

 not seem to be so great, as many physicians have 

 used it in nervous and other disorders in consid- 

 erable quantities, with varied success. It grows 

 from the northern limits of Canada, to Virginia. 



pel 



The juice appears to be well calculated for a 

 rnianent ink, or indelible black varnish. 



In Tyler county, Va., 60 men lately, in 2 days, 

 killed over 13,000 squirrels. 



