456 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oc*. 



VEGETABLE REPRODUCTION, 



The reproduction of vegetables is very analagous 

 to that of the animal kingdom. The organs of 

 production are the stamen and pistil. These are 

 situated within the colored leaves, which, together 

 with those interior and essential parts, form the 

 flower. Sometimes both atamen and pistil are 

 found in the same flower, which is then called a 

 perfect flower. Sometimes the flower has only a 

 stamen, or only a pistil, and then it is called an 

 imperfect flower. It is necessary that the stamen 

 and pistil should communicate in order to the re- 

 production of the plant. In a perfect flower this 

 communication is efiected by the contact of the 

 stamen and pistil. When, however, the flowers 

 are separate, and communication cannot be had 

 by contact, the fecundation is effected by the 

 agency of the wind, which carries the pollen or 

 dust of the stamen and deposits it on the pistil of 

 the other flower. Sometimes the male and fe- 

 male flower are not on the same plant, but a dif- 

 ferent one, as is the case with the strawberry, 

 the hemp and hop. Sometimes they are on the 

 same plant, but on a separate stem, as the melon. 

 In plants of this kind, having imperfect flowers, 

 the fecundation is supposed to be incomplete or to 

 fail, and it is sometimes assisted by the hand of 

 the gardener. In this way the varieties of certain 

 species of plants are chiefly produced. 



These hybrid plants can be produced only when 

 the parent species are nearly allied to each other. 

 If the hybrid bear flowers which become fertilized 

 by its own pollen, it may produce seeds from which 

 similar may be raised. This may be repeated for 

 two or three generations, by agency of its own re- 

 productive organs, or by intermixture with those 

 of the parent stock or species. In this last case, 

 however, it will be a new variety. If the several 

 parent stocks from which the variety proceetled 

 are of distant species, the new hybrid race becomes 

 soon extinct, unless it be continued by intermix- 

 ture with one of the parent stock, in which case 

 it becomes merged in that sk)ck. 



Those flowers which contain the pistil are called 

 fertile flowers, because they are capable of repro- 

 duction if fecundated by the stamen bearing flow- 

 er. The sterile flower may be easily distinguish- 

 ed from the fertile, by the knob or bulb at the top 

 of the stamen, whieh becomes covered with a fine 

 yellow dust, called pollen, which is the fructifying 

 element of the stamen, and which must, in order 

 to the reproduction of the plant, be brought into 

 contact with the stigma or expanded head of the 

 pistil in the fertile flower. 



This knowledge is valuable to gardeners, as by it 

 they are enabled to select the suitable sets for 

 strawberries and other fruits, to assist in the pro- 

 duction of melons by placing the pollen on the 

 stigma, and, by selection of pollen from diflerent 

 species, to produce new varieties. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 WHEAT CULTURE. 



Gentlemen : — I am not a little delighted to see 

 an awakening interest in wheat growing among 

 New England farmers. Letters have been ad- 

 dressed to me from different States, indicating that 

 your own Pilgrim soil is still capable of producing 

 bread for its people. 



The foreign conclusion that your soil was ex- 

 hausted of its lime, has now become a bugbear. 

 Your celebrated Dr. Jackson tells you that every 

 spoonful of manure has its quota of lime, and hence 

 all the lime that is necessary to vegetable growth is 

 found in the barn-yard. 



But time compels me to be brief. In a few words 

 I would say to the farmer — particularly tliose who 

 are remote — begin the business of raising the al- 

 most sure crop of winter wheat. Your potatoes 

 rot, your spring grains rws^.and the weevil troubles 

 you. Is it not so? Now the month of September 

 is upon you ; sow your wheat early. If you have 

 no seed at hand, send to Boston for it.* Wherever 

 you can get corn, there you can get wheat. It is 

 as sure a crop as winter rye, and much more so on 

 strong sward lands. Six years' experience is my 

 only proof; and as this is the season between 

 " hay and grass," and little else for the farmer to 

 do than plow his land, he will find his rewafd in 

 this new field of labor, and his granary replen- 

 ished in an important item of domestic comfort. 

 Yours truly, Henry Poor. 



Neiv York, Aug. 22, 1853. 



* Seed may be found at Ruggles, Nourse & Mason's, anU 

 other seed stores. 



SYMPATHIES OF MIND WITH THE 

 BODY. 



All are aware of the wonderful influence exert- 

 ed by the condition of the body upon the faculties 

 and affections of the soul. The following, from 

 the Essay on Indigestion, by Dr. James Johnson, 

 contains some very reitiarkable facts : — 



"Many a happy and lucky thought has sprung 

 from an empty stomach ! Many an important un- 

 dertaking has been ruined by a bit of undigested 

 pickle — many a well-laid scheme has failed in ex- 

 ecution from a drop of green bile — many a terrible 

 and merciless edict has gone forth in consequence 

 of an irritated gastric nerve. The character of 

 men's minds has often suffered from temporary de- 

 rangements of the body ; and thus, health may 

 make the same man a hero in the field, whom dys- 

 pepsia may render imbecile in the cabinet." 



Dr. J. illustrates his subject in his usual felici- 

 tous manner. The following are some of his re- 

 marks : — 



"I lately saw a gentleman of brilliant talents 

 and prolific genius, who could sit down and write 

 extemporaneously whole pages of superior poetical 

 effusions, with scarcely an effort of the mind, and 

 who would yet, from sudden derangement of the 

 digestive organs, be so completely and quickly 

 prostrated in intellectual power, as not to be able 

 to write three lines on the most common subject. 

 On a late occasion, when he had merely to com- 

 municate an official transaction that required not 

 more than half a dozen lines in the plainest lan- 

 guage, he could not put pen to paper, though the 

 attempt was made fifty times in the^course of two 

 days. At length he was forced to throw himself 



