Southern planter : devoted to agriculture, horticulture, and the ...

448 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER.
both—let us cultivate all the land of the
country which will pay lor such cultivation,
but first let us improve the tillage of
that which is now under culture, and look
to advancing knowledge to aid us to develope
to the utmost the latent powers of
those fields which we have now in hand."
Gardeners' Chronicle.
An Amateur's View on the Propag-ation
of Kew Varieties of Fruit.
In a late number of the Horticulturist, W.
Creed, of Rochester, N. Y., advances a new
idea which may prove of great benefit to those
who are engaged in the most praiseworthy effort
to produce new and improved varieties of
fruit, either from natural or artificial fertiliza-
tion. An experienced nurseryman can distinguish
many varieties of the apple, pear, and
other fruit trees, by some peculiar characteristics
of leaf, branch, color of bark or habit of
growth, as well as he can distinguish one man
from another by his peculiar feature^, and in
many of the varieties of apples, and pears particularly,
we can determine their identity (and
they may mostly all be learned) by any one of
these features, and with them all combined the
mere novice may soon learn to distinguish
them.
In regard to these peculiar characteristics
the writer assumes that " the most important
contrast in these distinguishing points, so far
as the propagation of new varieties is concerned,
is in the seeds themselves ; take up your
knife and half quarter a pear from each of the
above varieties named. Compare the seeds and
the contrast will be as equally convincing as in
the fruit, foliage, &c. In reference to the seeds,
however, we may expect that ninety-nine in a
hundred in any particular variety closely resemble
each other in shape, furm, fcc., peculiar
to that variety, and producing seedlings exhibiting
a close ajjiaily to each other, and, therefore,
not likely to result satisfactory to the experimenter
; but as soon as we find a marked difference
in the formation of a single seed in any
select variety, that seed should be chosen by the
amateur, for in that seed (which apparently is
one of nature's freaks) is the symbol (in embryo
of a new variety, whether "gooil," " very
good," or " best," will be left for providence to
work out, man also doing his share in the matter.
Another part of the success, it is evident,
will depend upon tlie choice of tiie best varie-
ties, from Avhich to select one of these ' freaks,'
or * spurts,' which are more or less traceable
throughout the wln)le classification of vegetable
physiology, and intended by an all-wise Being
to excite the wonder and admirat#n of man,
prompting him to energetic action, and to study
out the workings of nature in all its beauty and
complicity."
Ileusoning from analogy, there seems to be
some plausibility in the theory suggested. It
is one of the established laws of nature that
like nearly begets like. If we examine the
seeds of any specimen of a particular variety
of pear or apple, we discover a striking similarity
of form and color in them, which renders
the conclusion a safe one that the little filaments
in the blossom, connected with the embryo
of each seed, and which constitute the
pistils or female organs of the blossom, have
been fertilized with pollen of the same variety,
but in an orchard containing many kinds of the
same fruit, many of these diff'erent varieties
blossom at the same time, and the pollen is cast
by the wind, or carried by insects from one tree
to another ; this coming in contact with a single
filament or female organ of a fruit of a different
variety, and some peculiarity of the male
parent is at once stamped upon the seed in its
embryotic state, and this peculiarity is extended
to the future tree and fruit, producing a new
variety, partaking in part of the combined characteristics
of both parents more or less modified.
This is an interesting question to the amateur
and experimenter, in producing new varieties
of fruit, and one, the truth of which,
may be easily tested by an experiment in artificial
impregnation. If the seeds produced in
this manner differ materially from those impregnated
on the same tree, in the natural way,
it is safe to conclude that the difference was
stamped upon them by the male parent from
another variety.
It is well known to intelligent fruit growers
that there are certain varieties of the apple,
and of the peach particularly, that more surely
produce their own kinds from seed than other
varieties do. This is either owing to the period
of blossoming, earlier or later than the trees of
the same class in general, which renders the
blossoms less liable to be fertilized from pollen
from other trees, or to some peculiiirity of the
blossoms of the variety that is likely to prevent
the contact of the fertilizing powder from other
kinds.
We give these varioiis hints upon an interesting
subject that experimenters may have them
in mind, with the hope that some light may be
cast upon the subject.
"We have arrived but at the threshold of investigation
and scientific progress, and every
new idea that is likeh' to aid investigation and
promote improvement is worthy of attention.
Valley Farmer.
Simple test for Guano.—A bushel of guano,
if pure, weighs almost exactly seventy
pounds ; if adulterated with light substances
(which is rarely the case), it will,
of course, weigh less. If clay, marl, sand,
&c., have been used, they will be materiall}'increased,
and so far as this test applies,
gross adulterations will be easily detected.