1817. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
369 
RUNNING OUT OF VARIETIES—CHANGE OF SEED. 
We have often spoken in reference to this subject. 
Still there is no doubt many entertain the idea that va¬ 
rieties of grain, vegetables, and fruits, have their pe¬ 
riods of existence. Another idea, akin to this is, that 
it is necessary to “ change seed ”—that a kind of corn, 
potatoes, or other vegetables, naturally tends to de¬ 
generate, when its cultivation is continued on the same 
farm; and that to insure the best crops, seed must oc¬ 
casionally be procured from a distance. We believe 
that the reverse of this is true-—that the tendency is to 
naturalize on every spot of earth those species and va¬ 
rieties best adapted to the situation and circumstances. 
Man, it is true, may counteract this effort of nature by 
modes of propagation adverse to the principle. The 
natural course would be to encourage and continue 
those plants which had best adapted themselves to the 
location, and which would from generation to genera¬ 
tion produce the most perfect seed and the most vigo¬ 
rous stock. Man, instead of this, sows the seed per¬ 
haps, of those plants which are least perfect, and 
which, in consequence, produce a degenerate stock, 
declining still more with each generation. 
It should be the aim of every farmer to procure in 
the first instance, those kinds of grain or vegetables, 
which, from their known character, would be most 
likely to succeed on his land; and then to select seed 
from those particular plants or stocks which are found 
in the greatest perfection. Let ,this course be strictly 
and constantly followed, and no change made, (unless 
as a mere experiment on a small scale,) till it is cer¬ 
tain that a better kind can be substituted. 
We lately met with some striking facts in reference 
to this subject, in an article written by Joseph Cooper, 
of Cooper’s Point, New Jersey, and published in the 
Memoirs of the Pennsylvania Agricultural Society. 
The article was written in 1799, and shortly after its 
appearance in this country, it was re-published in 
Europe, where it received much attention. Mr. Cooper 
was led by his own experience and observation, con¬ 
tinued through more than forty years, to repudiate the 
idea — li that changing seeds, roots, and plants, to dis¬ 
tant places, or different soils or climates, is beneficial 
to agriculture.” He says— 
“ In or about the year 1746, my father procured 
the seeds of the long early squash, which have been 
kept on the farm ever since without changing, and are 
now far preferable to what they were at first. Our 
early peas were procured from London the spring be¬ 
fore Braddoek’s defeat, (1756,) and have been planted 
successively every season since, on the same place. 
They have not been changed, and are now preferable 
to what they were when first obtained. The seed of 
our asparagus was procured from New-York in 1752, 
and since that time I have not planted a seed except 
what grew on my beds; and by selecting the seed from 
the largest stalks, I have improved it greatly. Acorn- 
plaint is very general that potatoes of every kind de¬ 
generate, at which I am not surprised, when the most 
proper means to produce that effect are constantly 
practiced, to wit: using or selling the best, and plant¬ 
ing the refuse ; by which means almost the whole of 
those planted are most degenerated. This consideration 
induced me to try an opposite method. Having often 
observed that some plants or vines produced potatoes 
larger, better shaped, and in greater abundance than 
others, without any apparent reason except the opera¬ 
tion of nature, it induced me to save a quantity from 
such only for planting the ensuing season; and I was 
highly gratified in finding their production exceed that 
of others of the same kind planted at the same time, 
and with every equal advantage.- By continuing the 
practice, I am satisfied I have been fully compensated 
for all the additional trouble.” 
Mr. Cooper also states that about the year 1772, he 
received a few grains of a small kind of Indian corn, 
said to have come originally from Guinea, and to have 
the habit of bearing eight to ten ears on a stalk. 
The corn was planted, and the ears were of a very 
small size, small kernel, and but little ripened before 
frost. He saved some of the largest and earliest, and 
the next season planted them between rows of a larger 
and earlier kind. He saved seeds from stalks that 
produced the greatest number of the largest ears, and 
were the first to ripen , which he planted the ensuing 
season, and he found the product superior in quantity 
and quality to any he had ever before raised. He con¬ 
tinued-to plant that kind of corn, always being careful 
to select the seed, and it proved so valuable that he 
never changed it. He gathered the seed in the field, 
selecting the earliest and best ears—or rather, select¬ 
ing from stalks containing the greatest number of good 
ears. 
He mentions also a striking example in regard to 
melons. He received from Georgia some seeds of a 
kind of water-melon represented to be of superior qua¬ 
lity. He says —“ knowing that seed from vegetables 
which had grown in more southern climates required.a 
longer summer than that produced here, I gave them 
the most favorable situation, and used glasses to bring 
them forward, yet very few ripened to perfection; but 
finding them to be as excellent in quality as described, I 
saved seed from those first ripe, and by continuing that 
practice four or five years, they became as early melons 
as I ever had.” 
A similar instance in regard to the naturalization of 
melons came within the knowledge of the writer. 
Several years since, a gentleman near Zanesville, Ohio, 
brought from the southern part of Virginia some seeds 
of a choice variety of water-melon. The kind had been 
cultivated in the neighborhood from which the seeds 
were taken with great care, and kept entirely free 
from any intermixture for fifty years. The new loca¬ 
tion afforded a season hardly long enough for their full 
maturity, but by taking care to select the earliest, the 
variety became in a few years adapted to the climate, 
and our friend became noted for the finest water-melons 
ever known in the region. 
Bite of a Mad-Dog.- —To prevent all danger of 
this terrible disease, cauterize the wound thoroughly 
with lunar caustic, introducing it most effectually t® 
every part of the wound, and enlarging the wound if 
necessary. An eschar-is soon formed, which sloughs 
away, carrying off the poison, which never immediate¬ 
ly penetrates the system. A second application en¬ 
sures more complete safety. The celebrated author of 
Youatt on the Dog, was many times bitten in his life, 
but always cured himself in this way. 
Good Black Ink. —\ lb. of nut-galls; 3 oz. of gum 
arabic; 3 oz. of copperas. Soak the nut-galls in 3 
pints of rain-water; the gum arabic in half a pint of 
warm rain-water; the copperas in another half pint; 
let them stand separately 48 hours, and then mix them, 
and th* ink is made. This is the recipe of Prof. 
Webster, of Harvard University. 
