The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-11-17

Some may think, upon reading the
heading 1 have chosen for the follow
ing hasty observations that the phrase
wisdom of the clovers," is USED only
in figurative sense, and that cloVers
are neither wise nor unWise, but SIM
ply passive forms OF vegetation that
react in response to outer stimuli.
1 have no argument to offer, no
theory TO propose. Here are the factS;
Judge from them as to the propriety of
using the term wisdom" in relation
to nIarts. Wisdom there certainly is;
but as to whether the plant itself pos
sesses that wisdom, or whether the
elements themselves are imbued with
il, or whether the plant obeys the re-
quirements of some intelligence that is
outside Of itself, as when animals are
directed by ourselves to results which
they cannot even dimly conceive
these are points on which men may
differ. We shall look only TO the facts
and let the theories take care of
themselves.
The Nitrogen Gatherers.
First, then, 1 suppose most of my
readers know that the leguminous
family of plants form group very
important TO mankind, to the lower an
tmals, and even to other families of
the plant creation. All are aware that
peas, beans, lentils, etc, comprise
some of our most important food
stuffs. The seeds of many of this vast
order OF plants that bear the papiliona-
ceous or butterfly flowers, are very
nutritious. They contain heterogeneous
compounds; and nitrogen. while abun-
dant, is exceedingly difficult to pro-
cure in a form available for food. Ami
mails as we'll as human beings, seek
these foods. Moreover, since nitrogen
is a necessary part of the food of
plants also, and since it is not natur-
ally abundant in soils, the duty of
supplying other families of the plant
kingdom with this foodstuff devolves
largely upon the leguminOus group.
THESE plants, as may be explained by
and by in this series, have the unusual
power Of getting nitrogen from the
air by means of bacteria upon their
roots. But the nitrogen gatherers do
not enjoy this pTe-eminence without
paying for it, With great care and
with many singular cOntrivances the
fertilization of their seeds is effected
with the help of the bees. BY means
of other devices and similar labor,
their precious seeds are protected and
brought to maturity. Still other ex-
traordinary things must be done at
their roots before they will grow.
Many of the tremendous though I'M
noticed powers of nature must be
brought into requisitiOn in order to
grow and ripen single seed of the
sweet pea, the lucern, the clover the
astragulus. We shall first consider the
commonest of them all, the lucern, up
on which, in this semi-arid desert, a
large part of our wealth and well be-
ing absolutely depends.
The Intelligent Lueern.
Upon learnings the facts one is like
ly to say: What a wise plant the
common lucern is"
If the indulgent reader will pluck a
sprig of lucern, still Towering, and ex-
anime the blossom thereof, in accord
ance with these directions, he will dis
cover something that may greatly sur
prise him. In the first place, the wis
dom of the lucern is manifest in its
mode of Towering. The blossoms are
small. violet-blue and relatively incon-
spicuous, They might in many in
stances escape the attention of the OBJ
servant and intelligent bee, if nature
had not taken the pains to forestalI
such a result, by massing the little
flowers together into oblong racenes
at the very tips of the branches. This
arrangement enables the blossoms to
form a perfect carpet of bloom over
the surface of an entire field of the
crowded plants. The bees have, there
fore, a clear field for operations, and
the chances for securing cross fertiu-
cation of the seeds are greatly in
creased. In common with all the Glow
ers, peas, beans and other members of
the leguminOus group, the seeds of
the lucern must be cross fortified or
they will not mature. The device
which the lucern adopts to secure this
result is quite simple, but very in