Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1896-06-05
PLANTS HAVE BRAINS.
They Know Their Friends and
Understand Things.

Do plants possess intelligence? Are
they conscious in any degree OF their
surrounding? Do they recognize their
friends?
r. M. Kellogg, a Michigan fruit
grower, has opened up an entirely new
science by asking these questions. He
answers them in the affirmative, and
maintains that he can prove plants
show certain attributes which entitle
them to a place in the scale OF in
telligence. Mr.. Kellogg runs large
fruit farm and nursery near Ionia,
Mich.
Nobody has ever been able to tell
u.s." said he, why two persons EN-.
ployed exactly the same methods in
the raising OF plants will oftentimes
get such different results. Some fruit
growers, gardeners and florists are
always successful, while others, ap-
parently under the same conditions,
are never able to secure good results.
l think it is because plants recognize
their friends and respond to the little
kindly courtesies which q gardener
who loves his work and takes q per-
sonal interest in his charges will
manifest toward them. There is
quality about the nature Of some peo-
pie which is obnoxious to plants, and
they will chill greenhouse or garden
as certainly as will snowstorm.
The life principle ia the same in
plants as in animals. Plants are
created male and female, and come
into existence the same as animals.
They have their courtships and love
affairs, and manifest affinities in which
they show the power to select their
partners. Sometimes a plant will
utterly refuse to receive pollen from
another plant of the same species, but
will take it from another plant a
greater distance away, for which it
has an affinity.
"God never made anything without
giving it the power to get its own living
and plants are able to do this. They
have the power of selecting from the
soil their proper food. In animals
this is called instinct and in man
intelligence-why should it be less in
plantsf Plants enjoy good food and
respond to it. If they are we'll fed and
we'll cared for they show that they ap-
preciate it as distinctly as do animals.
elf plants are injured they show
evidence OF pain. Cut them and they
bleed. Wound their branches and
they wilt. Disturb them and they
fade and droop and show every sign Of
encouragement.
"Many plants are sensitive to the
touch. Put your finger on them and
they recoil like frightened bird. Does
not this show that they have the
sense Of touch, with something
analogous to the nerve centers OF the
animal organism into which the in.
formation OF the disturbance is carried
and from which the impulse to escape
proceeds9
"There are many carnivOrous plants
they prey upon insects, for which
they lie in wait. They are provided
with sharp spines, and secrete sweet
substance which attracts the fly OF
other insects. As soon as the victim
touches this bait it is mercilessly
seized. Among these plants are the
Venus fly-trap (Dionaca muscipula)
the sun dew (Rosera rotundifolia), oul
common pitcher plant (Sarracenis
rubra), the pinquicula, and several
forms of the tropical pitcher plants OF
the genus Nepenthes. Some of these
close their leaves quickly and seize
their prey, displaying a shrewd and
crafty intelligence. There are quite
a number of these plants found around
the low marshes of Michigan, and in
tropical countries they are very
numerous.
"Group all these things together
and we have what to ME is strong
cumulative evidence that plants are
conscious of their surroundings and
have enough intelligence to en-.
able them to supply their own wants"
Mr.. Kellogg was asked if he be.
lieved plants had means of com.
municating with each other.
"That is further than have gone,"
said he; "but am not prepared to
say that they have not. We do not
know and cannot expect to know
until we learn to interpret the
language of our domestic animals,
which are far higher in the scale of
intelligence"
Mr.. Kellogg affirms that the straw
berry plant is fully as intelligent as
the oyster, and that the lofty oak is as
conscious of its surroundings as the
pitiful little worm that burrows in its
bark.
At . recent meeting of the Western
Michigan Fruit Growers Association
Mr.. Kellogg, who is Secretary of the
association, gave his views on plant
intelligence in . carefully prepared
paper, which cause much discussion.
The Post-IntellIgencer and the WASH
INGToN STANDARD will bc sent one wear