Monongalia mirror. [volume] (Morgantown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1855, 1852-10-09

d No fac, :, uatural history more
,,s,oonant s,;.i, H. consequences has been
el;cited ~. that transformation TO
,sb;ch we a., Geek drew the attention
nfthe ppb1;s l;s' That miserable grass
should, il ,o' NJ more than twelve gene
'rations. lbenome ~ such aGimportant ar
itisle of food SyI as wheat, would have
been incrsdible, in the absence of the
,l;rcct and : pnositive testimony that has
5een prodneed by NJ. Fabre. Scum
like arc lie alpha and omega of this
sxperimcn.e e that botanists, with one
consent, hay have placed them in distinct
genera, and yet the plants are shown,
by the plainest evidence, not only to
belong to tho same genus, put even 70
The value Of the modern genera
and species ,s 10 botany is wofully sha-
ken by this is revelation faith in those
lower classes @ ofbotanicul distinctions,
which have been said to represent
permanent natural diferences,is gone;
and it IS IL, 10 BE- be hoped that ,ofnenents
in classi6catiop, as they have been =.
absurdly called, have received their
coup ac .,raee. The ingenious US gentle.
men who have believed that /, 2os2eeies
of AGO.. ore confounded under Ma
pellus. h"I1ea.hundred Willows under
Salix canrea, an and as many species Of
Rubus npIer R. corylifolius, may burn
their boal,s, aI for their triaing distinc-
tions ean hardly continue to find ad-
mirers afier the proof that an Egi-
lops ana = Wheat are the same species
For onr own part, we console our:
selves S;,htb ~ the belief that botany will
be thns ,.sstored to the condition OF
an iintslIiieible is science and we con-
gratulSte those who, like Bentham,
Hooker and others, have for a quar-
ter Of century carried on an unsuc.
cessfll war with hair-splitting contem.,
porqries, upon the final triumph Of Of
Their principles. -
may also also suggest that other unsus,,
pected instances Of the same kind
are yely likely to occur. We are ig.
norant of the origin Of rye; but rye
isless aia a;ofens from wheal than IS
Egilops., and may very well " be anole r
thor Ethiopian A.; form, So again Of
barley, The wild state Of which is just St
that some clever experimenter will
trace It to an origin as surprising as
that Of wheat. But these are matters
of mere scientific interest. Let US u
see to what practical inferonces Nj
Fabre's discovery may lead.
This gentleman found that kind
of wild grass (Bgileps orata was
subject to what gardeners call "a "a
spoaS I n. triticoides.J ofthat sport
he so,ved the seeds, and he found that
while on the one hand there was no
disposition to return 10 its Original
form there was on the other hand a
decided tendency to sport still more fe :
OF that tendency be ayailed himself
with admirable patience. Year BY
Year the change went on-but slowly
Little by little one part altered OF an
other. The wrctcbed, hungry grain
grew nlumper; the flour initincreas;;
ed rs size augmented. The starved
ears soon -, formed other spikelets; the
spikeIets at first containg but two
fowers, at last became capable OF ,
yieldins I,S, four or FIVE. The straw stiff.
fennd The leaves widened, tho cars
lene,bened, the corn softened and !
augmentod, till at last wheat itself
stood ID revealed, and of such quality
thai i was not excellcd on the neigh:
bor;na farms. All this too, be it OBJ
served, was done on a large scale; y y
was no obscure laboratory exper1'
men, but the result of a farming oPe-
ration, carried on in the open fields
Men must be blind indeed who can, =,
nor see to what this points. Weshall
leave our agricultural friends 70 re- re.
feet upon the prospects that are @ 9,
pened TO them;i it is for them to dou-
ble the length Of their ears of corn,
and augment their grain-to go on,
in short, in crowds, in the track thai hat
u eaw only of the most intelligent ntiftle are
following now. We must limit our
horizon to tho boundary of q garden,
If any men know the importance
of sports" they are gardeners
Holf the most striking Of the flowers
and fruit have been thus obtained,-
4 moor ugly dwarf laykspur sports by
change 10 double; the seeds OF the
snort are saved carefully and sown;;
three fourths of The seedlings are sin,
Gle. but a few are double; the first
are are drown away, the best 81 the sec.
onJ are saved for seed, aud tie second
cIup ND Of seedlings comes ti.uer. So
comes ,Tp the race Of double larksp,uurs.
A double larkspur next sports TO q
stripe, that is TO soy, bands of rcd or
violet appear upon the pule ground
Of the petals Of a fewsilIiwers; these
are marked, the seed y saved
and so begius the breel Of What are
oaaljed Uniaues. at one time the pride,