The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1885-03-12


very near the line. His red land is
afiicteds with sarsafras and my
gray land has none, but its yolun-
teer growth is the persimmon.
have sobserved this frequently on
other farms, and it is uniformly so.
I am satisfied that neither comes
from seed, nor do they sprout from
hidden roots.
Last week I met an intelligent
farmer, Judge Bailey, at Marion,
in Alabama, and he had a yellow
flower in his hand which looked
like a dandelion with long stem,
and he said it WAS new plant that
had never been seen in that region
until this year, and now it was to
be found everywhere. Where did
it come from? Where did the Les
pedezia clover come from that sud
denly grew up all over the south
the year after the war had closed?
| sheard an Irishman say tbat it
was Just like the Shamrock, for it
only grew in conquered countries.
SO / reckon it will soon disappear
now that Cleveland is elected, and
the South is holding her head up
again and is beginning to feel her
| freedom.
l found Judge Bailey to be
firm believer in what he calls the
possibilities of nature. He main
tains tn at she's her own restorer,
and never mades a mistake. He
spoke of her methods of natural ro-
tation, and mentioned the we'll
known fact that when a pine forest
is cut down there will spring from
the soil thousands of little oaks
and hickory nut bushes, although
there was neither nut nor an acorn
tree in miles Of the place. He con-
tends that nature mas her chemical
unions, and when the soil and the
electric forces are brought in GER
tain conjunction there is sponta-
neous generation of vegetable life
without the agency OF any seed or
root.
Well, it is not common for Dame
Nature to strain herself in this way
but it does look like she does it
sometimes. She has some secret
lock-ups in her storehouse that she
opens only on emergencies. When
the pine forests Is suddenly cut
down and nature wants to recover
it, she can't do it with pine, for the
, pine has already exhaus ted the
food that young pines want. So
she brings her hidden forces into
play and sends up another growth
that.does not want pine food. When
that new clover came it came eF
erywhere in this region. 1t was
found fiourishing in all the old
fields and in every briar patch and
IN places remote from roads OF
travel. 1t was on the mountain
, and in the valley, and it had such
vigor and tenacity that it overran
broom-sedge and the common clio
yer and the bluegrass, and actual
ly caused the briars to die where
it took hold. I put some bluegrass
> turf on q terrace and this new
! clover run it out and occupied the
; terrace.
, heard man say that animal
; life would spontane under certain
conditions of light and air. H,
said that fresh, new cheese might
> be put in a safe with 8 fine. wire
j gauze door and be locked up Sc
, curelyssand living creatures woulC
in time, be found in that cheese
Where did they come from. If an
imal life can come in that way,
why not vegetable? Mrs. Arp says
that there are some other animals
that spontane-for time and time
again she has scalded with hot wa
l ter and destroyed and used kero
sene and turpentine and corrosive
: sublimate, but in course of time
they come again spontaneous and
with renewed energy and .malicC
aforethought. And [ have heard
mothers wondering and wondering
where some other animals come
from, and as they raked the fine
comb through the little boys hair
; they would say: "Well, 1 will have
to stop you from playing with Mrs.
Jones' children If you are to get
your head in that fix" And
reckon Mrs. Jones was doing the
same thing and making a similar
threat. Where did they come from
The old darkeys used to tell US
boys if we let a horse hair soak in
the branch long enough it would
turn to a snake, but have tried it
and it dident So I don't believe
that, but maybe 1 dident soak it
long enough.
Well, there are mysteries and
mysteries. Sir Isaac Newton said
there was an ocean full that he had
not explored. Darwin and Huxley
have made big effort unravel
some of them but the world is not
satisfied. Evolution is not yet
proven, but maybe it is the entering
wedge that will burst the log open
afterwhile. BILL ARP.