NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



85 



carry ll>em off, von will send some (ucoii-i 



Vancv", you know?"' "Yes, child, cousin 



;cv shallalso be remembered. Tlie thieves ] 



not take Ibem now, because they sire too j 



to be eaten, and we shall endeavor to ^ath-j 



em in season.'' These were our Ibnd an- 1 



ations anil pleasing hopes, but they were 



disregarded by the barbarous destroyer, 



lie ncxl'^morning 1 looked at my pear tree 



beheld it was as barren as llie I'lg tree of 



am/! My feelings and indignation 1 cannot 



Iress. The interesting scene which my wife 



child in the garden but a few hours before 



e to my mind, and I confess 1 tiecame a child 



elf, and sorely wept. Call it weakness, or 



you will, I care not. This pear tree is 



favorite Eclipse. Suppose the famous horse 



hat name should be stolen by some Cuiadi- 



harper, what would be the ado, the bustle, 



complaining and execrations ! and yet, sir, 



teem my pear tree of more worth than a 



ired such horses ! 



his evil is not confined to a single individu- 



it is very well known to be general 



ughout the country. What then can be 



Is there no remedy against such shame- 



nd abominable vilhmy ? And is it generally 



uted to thiit to rob an orchard or garden is 



rime ; and that a watermelon frolic, as it is 



monly calleil, is but a piece of innocent 



t? Must an unfortunate debtor be harassed 



persecuted, and confined to the cells of a 



n ior being vnable to pay his debts, while 



midnight marauder and fruit robber by 



mon consent goes free and unmolested ? 



t says the law on this subject ? It imposes 



malty of not less than live, nor more than 



dollars on any person, who shall enter the 



isure of another without leave, with intent 



jure, SiC. and take therefrom any grass, hay, 



, vegetable or shrub, cultivated thereon for 



or ornament ; besides a forfeiture of treble 



iges. Thus we see that the legislature 



: done all that is necessary ; and it remains 



he good people of the Commonwealth to 



.he law m execution. 1 then call on the 



nunity at large, whose interest it surely is, 



tend to this 3ne thing needful. In every 



, where there is a discovery, suffer no vil- 



to go unpunished. No matter who he is, 



hat he is ; let him be made an example of 



.\ particularly on all, who are engaged 



.riculture, horticulture, and the culture of 



■sty, industry, good morals and a good neigh- 



ood to make it their business to discounte 



e and put down this shameful and diabolical 



Let there be clubs and societies formed 



he prevention of these crimes, as well as 



rs. If it were consistent with the regula- 



and designs of our agricultural societies to 



premiums to those, who should detect 



ers of fruit, as well as to those who should 



vate it, I have no doubt they might in 



way greatly promote the interest of agricul- 



and be of still more essential benefit to 



yublic. Now, Sir, of him who is disposed 



II this a trifling matter, let me ask ; who 



rise early and work late, and tug, and 



t, to set out and cultivate, and nurse, and 



e an orchard — to till, and toil, and plant 



leld and gardens all for the sport and depre- 



us of a set of scoundrel pilferers ? 



Yours, &c. 



JOHN LANDMARK. 



From the Farmer's Magazine. ' 



ON THE NECESSITY OF CHANGING SEED. 



" Have you found it of service to change the seed 

 of plants, from one soil or climate to another, and 

 wily ; — From the most universal adoption of the prac- 

 t ire, it seems that experience has fully justified it. In 

 tlif. case of exotics, that do not arrive at perfection in 

 an alien climate, it docs not seem wondi rful ; but in 

 the case of naturalized vegetables, I cannot explain it." 

 Balh Socitly Papers. 

 Sir — Not having access to a complete set of 

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

 cussions it "as furnished on the subject of the 

 necessity of a change of seed in the cultivation 

 of corn ; but, as an endeavor, however humble, 

 to fix the principles of that necessity, may at 

 the approaching season not be uninteresting to 

 farmers, I have taken the liberty of submitting 

 what has occurred to me from an impeifect 

 consideration of it. 



I understand a belief in an abstract necessity 

 for an occasional change of seed, to be very 

 generally entertained, and to be founded on a 

 supposed repugnance between the soil of a farm 

 an<l a succession of plants descended from a par- 

 ticular stock of seed. This antipathy is said to 

 be a secret principle in the economy of plants; 

 and those with whom I have conversed, unable 

 to account for it, consider it sutlicient to say, 

 the soil tires of the plants, or the plants of the 

 soil. In this, it ajipears to rae, there is much de- 

 lusion ; for I hold that, abstractedly, there is no 

 efficacy in, and therefore no necessity for, a 

 change of seed. The grounds of this opinion I 

 shall endeavor to explain. 



Without going into the never-to-be-determin- 

 ed question. What is the food of plants ? 1 take ' 

 it for granted, that each species of vegetable 

 has its peculiar pabulum ; and that this peculiar 

 matter must exist in the soil in which the seed 

 of that plant is sown, otherwise it will not be 

 produced in a perfect 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 unfit to produce 

 the plant in perfection ; and other circumstan- 

 ces, such as the application of certain manures, 

 may incapacitate a piece of land from carrying 

 a particular species of plant to maturity. Cut, 

 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 plant 

 sought to be cultivated in it, otherwise a change 

 of seed will prove of no avail. Again, I con- 

 ceive that a plant, after being deteriorated, by 

 unfitness of soil, inadequacy of climate, or faul- 

 ty cultivation, may be restored, by being trans- 

 ferred to better soil, or a more genial climate, 

 or by being more carefully cultivated. But this 

 is no proof of an abstract efficacy in a change of 

 seed. Here there is a concomitant change of 

 circumstances, which plainly accounts for the 

 improvement: for we are entitled to hold, that 

 corn, once degenerated, cannot be reproduced 

 in a more vigorous state, unless it is transferred 

 to land diflFerent in the circumstances either of 

 climate, soil, or mode of cultivation. Still fur- 

 ther, corn crops may degenerate by the gradual 

 operation of an unfavorable climate, or by the 

 natural barrenness of the soil in which they are 

 raised. In such a case, the farmer finds an ad- 

 vantage in having recourse to fresh seed, the 

 produce of a more genial climate or better 

 land, or even of a neighboring farm under the 

 same circumstances of soil and climate as liis 



own, if the corn produced on that farm, from 

 being more nearly related to a good stock of 

 seed, happens to be less degenerated. Thii=, 

 however, does not furnish evidence of an ab- 

 stract efficacy in a change of sood ; for it is clear, 

 that the farmer would not have bettered his 

 circumstances had he not obtained seed of a 

 quality superior to what was produced on his 

 own farm. Again, we know that crops may be- 

 come deteriorated, by the adoption of" the 

 too general practice of sowing corn nearly as 

 it grows, using little pains to separate the good 

 seeds from weak and imperfect ones; or bv 

 many other circumstances of mismanagement. 

 In such a case, it may be a temporary imj>rove- 

 ment to obtain a fresh supply of seed. But 

 this does not establish the abstract efficacy of a 

 change. In short, in every supposable case of 

 change of seed, any improvement that takes 

 place must be the cfTect of some concomitanl 

 change of obvious circumstances ; and the ne- 

 cessity of the change seems to have no relation 

 to the Jc nc sais ijuoi, that mysterious antipathy 

 between the soil and a particular race of plants, 

 which is said to be excited liy their long famil- 

 iarity. This is the abstract necessity for ' chang- 

 ing the seed of plants from one soil of climate 

 to another,' unless in the case of degeneracy of" 

 crops, from some of the obvious causes 1 have 

 alluded to ; and in such a case, an improvement 

 can be effected only by obtaining a supply of 

 better seed. This, too, is the only case in which 

 there can be any ejjicacij in a change, except the 

 object be to obtain a better variety of a particu- 

 lar plant than what is already possessed. With 

 this view, it may be justifiable to sow seed, 

 though even inl'erior, as a sample, to what is al- 

 ready produced on the farm, if superiority of 

 soil, clim;:te or cultivation, aflbrd a reasonable 

 prospect of improving the quality of the nevy 

 variety. 



1 am quite aware of the nicety of this ques- 

 tion, and sensiiile of my own incompetency to 

 the discussion of it ; hut I shall think 1 have 

 done enough, if some of your enlightened 

 correspondents should be induced, from what I 

 have said, to edify us with their sentiments. 



Stonehaven, Jan. 3, 1G20. Xn. 



From the New York Advocate. 



DANDY HATS. 



Our city has been much amused with a low 

 tripod-kind of a hat, made of fine beaver, and 

 worn by our Bang-ups. Some call them the 

 Touch, others the Gape and Stare, the real name 

 is the Bolingbrokc. It is about sis inches in 

 crown, and four in rim, shaped like an inverted 

 cone, it is a real tippy. We yesterd.-iy saw 

 one of the fancy, dressed quite unique, blue 

 iVock, black silk Welhngtori cravat, buff waist- 

 coat, Cossack pantaloons, high heel boots, black 

 ribbon and eye glass, bushy hair frizzed, and 

 surmounted with one of these little tipjiy hats. 

 He looked like an hour glass, and minced his 

 steps along Broadway in the real Jemmy Jumps 

 style. The ladies were highly amused, and 

 more glasses were directed towards hijn, than 

 would be to the Emperor Iturbide. had he ju.«t 

 landed; while our blood, insensible to all this 

 curiosity danced up the street, humming the fa- 

 vorite air of, " Look dear ma'am, I'm quite the 

 thing ; natius hay, tippity ho !" 



