SECRETARY'S REPORT. 147 



General Principles of Horticulture as connected with Fruit Trees 



AND their Culture. 



A tree is a living, organized body made up of various parts or 

 organs. The root, the stem, and the leaf, comprising those which 

 it needs for growth, are called the organs of Vegetation. The 

 flowers, together with the seed which comes from them, are called 

 the organs of Reproduction. These take no part in the nourish- 

 ment or growth of the tree, but on the contrary are exhausting in 

 their effects upon it. Their special office in the operations of nature 

 is to reproduce and perpetuate the species. Incidentally, in the 

 case of the trees we are about to consider, to yield, for the use of 

 man, a supply of fruit, wholesome, nourishing and delicious. 



The root grows downward into the ground, usually branching 

 again*and again, until terminating in fibres or rootlets, the extrem- 

 ities of which are known as spongioles, from their delicate, spongy 

 texture. The oflSce of the root is to absorb nourishment for the 

 support of the tree. This it does by means of the spongioles, the 

 sponge-like extremities. What is known as the collar, is the point 

 of junction between the root and the stem. The stevi is that 

 part which starts from the collar and grows upwards.* There 

 is usually a correspondence between the growth of the roots and 

 the stem — for instance, if the main roots grow directly down- 

 ward, the stem will tend directly upward. If they are mainly on 

 one side, the tree will grow more to that side. The original or 

 main root of a seedling pear or apple usually penetrates the earth 

 in a vertical direction. If this root be ciit or otherwise disturbed, 

 it will at once send out lateral branches, and the tendency upon 

 the tree will be to form a more spreading top. If a tree is designed 

 to furnish an upright trunk for timber, it would be bad policy in 

 any way to disturb the tap root. If, on the contrary, the tree be 

 designed for the production of fruit, it is well to encourage the for- 

 mation of lateral or horizontal roots, as this tends to the pri)duction 

 of a well developed and spreading top. Besides this correspond- 

 ence in the style of growth, there is much of intimate relation and 

 mutual dependence between the stem and the root. As the roots 

 collect and furnish food to the stem and leaves, so these, in their 

 time, transmit nourishment to the roots, by virtue of which they 



*ThG br.xnohea are, as it were, repetitions of the stem, a.wl for present purposes 

 may be considered part of it. 



