Monongalia mirror. [volume] (Morgantown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1855, 1852-10-09
Agricultural Department.
From the Magazine of Horticulture.
The TRANSFORMATION Of Plants,
and the Importance Of its
results.
DY THE EDITOR.
(Concludcd.J

ed species were all forms Of the same
species. In fact, the very same ear
which yields either orata or triaristqta
also yields tritieoides. Nevertheless,
M. Fabre calls them perfectly distinct
from each other, and is Of opinion
that when AZ. ocata runs 10 hiticoidcs,
it gives rise to the small grnincd
smooth 9 wheats which the French call
Seissette and TouSclle while; on. tho
other hand, when E. triaristata Runs
into niticoides, it gives birth 10 the
coarser wheats with downy ears,
known in Lower Languedoc under
the name of Fowmcn and Petanielle,
among which Egyptian wheat is in.
Guided. Be that as it may, and M.
Fabre offers the statement merely as
an hypothesis, it is certain that Egi-
Ions triticoiass, when once produced,
if raised from seed year after year,
goes on.changing till at ti.becomes
mere n wheat. This is clearly shown
bythe following concise narrative Of
what the French naturalist testifes to
having witnessed as occurring 10 the
.g. triticoiles, derived from E. orata.
F14 year eultiratiom. !; 1885,
IA fsw gfains ripenel here and there
among sfI5 Spikelets, which still pre-
5eryea esi.s brittle character of zEgi-
ions. The return was about tiyefold
Of ciose.packedJ concaye corn, which
was very velyety at the upper cnd.-
The boards Of the glumes, which are
most abundant and remarkable in
4sgiilops, had begun to alter and dis
appear. The plants looked exactly
like Touzelle wheat. 'H9t'
Second year; 1910, The spikelels
q; .s..iis .ss..is sowing huas become 'tns,os Ga-
mn,erous, and each contained Two grains;
the ears we're less brittle; the grain
was less concaye and vclvety, and
much more Aoury than in the previ-
GUS year. The boards Of the giumes
we're further,diminishcd.
Third so,oiag 1871. The chang
es already described became more ev-
ident; as many as three grains APP
peared in some of the spikelcts; the
plants became more and more like
wheat.
FourM soving; crop Of 1872
Much iujuredby rust; the boards had
so much disappeared that the cars had
quite the appearance Of Learlless
Touzclle wheat.
Fifth so,eing; ls4s. The plants
were now o yard high, and exactly,
| like wheat; none of the glumes had
more than one, beard, with, perhaps
the rudiments Of another. The spike
lets contained each from two to three
grains. Tho cars had become less
brittle. The corn was SO large thai
it protruded beyond the cllalf'; the
crop was 1S0-lold in one case, and
450-fola in another.
SirtA soyiag; 1874. Changes still
went jon, but slowly. The ears con-
tinued brittle, one of the great pccu-
liarities of the Egilops.
y SereaiA so,oing; 1916. The plants
were very much like wheat. Boards
were further diminished. Each spi-
kclct contained from four to five flow
ers, Of which three were fertile, as in
good wheat. These were really
wheat. /,
- Up to this time the experiments had
been conducted in walled enclosure.
where no other grass was permitted
to grow, and far from any othergrain
crop. Tho corn was always sown in
the autumn, ripening in tho years a
bove indicated. But NJ. Fabre now
transferred his experiments to the O.
pen field, sowing his Egilops wheat
broadcast. In this way he cropped a
field near the road from Marseillan,
completely surrounded by vines, and
far from any wheat field. For four
consecutive years he pcrsevercdin in his
trial, obtaining every year wheat like
that Of the neighboring tlrms, aud
.sixfold or eightfold according to the
season. a i'i f.Ht.7sP iini '.
In 1850 tic straw was stiff and full;
the cars nearly smooth, and composed
of from cightto twelve spikelets, each
containing Two or three fertile flowers,
and consequently yielding from two
to three grains Of corn, Which were
very tloury, and scarcely ut all con,
cave. Tho crop was however very
short this year, owing to excessive
dryness, which greatly injured all the
cereal crops.
Thus "during the twelve consecu,
tive yeals," remarks NJ. Fabre, "in
which ! have pursued tho cultivation
Of E. Triticoidcs, | have found it
gradually improving, and becoming
wheat; but have never sccn an in.
stance of its running buck to the q
oyata. from which it sprunC."