Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1842-02-21

MUTATION OF PLANTS. The Boston Courier
Of November 4th contains paragraph from me
Kennebec Journal, stating that +" Mr.. John Smiley
of that place. last year raised potatoes as he says,
from the fruit or bulbs of the giilower. OF the
veracity of Mr.. Smiley there is no question. The
only question is, "can he and his family all be
mistaken" The Maine Cutvator, also, some
time since, contained several brief statements OF
the alledged change of one plant into another
Thus according to credible accounts, gllhower
tubers have become potatoes. Tiger lines nave
been procured from aquatic plants, and yeliow
lilies from the peony. Wheat, III western new
York has often times turned into chess. Barley
has been known to produce oats. A respectable
gentleman, la the town Of Mount Vernon, I'm
Maine, we presume, lately remarked, That some
how or other, he did not know why, The farmers
of that town could not raise barley with success.
They sow barley, and it comes up oats" SIN
ruIar instance of this was lately mentioned by
one of the most respectable physicians OF Maine,
himself skillful farmer. When he attended the
medical lectures at Dartmouth College, he had oc-
casion TO sow n patch Of Barley. Ii came up, and
developed the barley leaf, stock, and heads. In
this early state, some cattle broke in and ate down,
in several places, those plants to The ground
The last grew and rlpened into barley, hut these
sent up new stalks, which, proceeding from the
old roots, yielded odts in every This is GER
rsinly very strange. 1t would be well for our
own curious farmers to try the experiment IN this
way, and inform the public of the result
ANNAPOLIS, MD Jan. 10Th, 1912.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE COURIER:
A lew days after reading the preceding, ], by
chance. met with an article in an old English pc
riodical, English Annual Register, for the year
1859 page 36l ! noticing The phenomen0a OF the
ransmutation OF one species OF grain into another.
Il was first observed in Sweden, and the discove-
ry was purely accidental. A husbandman who
had sowed OATS, being in want Of prOvender
for his cattle, moved them as soon as they were
high enough. They quickly took second growth,
and he again cut them. lie did this al intervals,
three times. The winter then coming on no more
blades put forth until The following spring, wheh'
shooting up rs before, they were permitted 10
grow TO perfection but the grain TO me surprise
of The sower, proved to be "good Rye Ihls
fact on being made public, as might DC expected,
awakened both establishment and inquiry, and
MIR. Jon. Bern Vergin, distinguished naturalist
of Sweden, suspecting that there might be some
detention in The matter, determined to make the
experiment himself Accordingly, ia the year
ZIG. he sowcd OATS and having cut them
three several times, as the peasent had done, the
result was precisely the same--they were trans
muted into "good RYE" Influenced by curios-
~, and desire to promote knowledge, other nat
urasts of Sweden made similar experiments, ana
amongst them MIR. Sypefstein, President OF me
Society for the improvement of the Arts and SCI
ences, lat Harlem) and the issue was the same
the OATS he sowed and treated after the same
manner Of the peasant and Mr.. Vergln, changeu
to, and yielded" good RYE"
Respectfully, your obt servant
JOHN HAMMOND.