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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[February a, 1885. 



ami trained up the rafter early in the month of February; 

 the other limbs were trained upon a trellis outside of the 

 glass roof, up the middle of the sash. The limbs inside, 

 exposed to the regular heat of 70 degrees, soon began to 

 push their buds, expand their leaves, unfold their blossoms, 

 and large bunches of ripening berries hung down from the 

 rafters, while those limbs outside were just beginning to 

 show signs of active life. The ripe clusters were all gathered, 

 the new wood and new buds all ripened and matured, the 

 leaves had performed their functions, and, sere and yellow, 

 were beginning to fall from the vines inside, while the 

 vines on the roof outside were making a vigorous and 

 luxuriant growth. Query : How did the descending sap 

 from the limbs inside How down that three feet of 

 stem through which was rushing a resistless upward flow 

 of sap towards the vigorous growing limb outside ? We 

 saw this experiment repeated for eight years in suc- 

 cession, and yet no protuberance was formed at the 

 junction of the limbs. 



' In 1839 we superintended a long range of forcing houses 

 for the production of early fruits. The house at the west 

 end of the range was devoted to peach culture. On the 

 wall outside of this structure a large Black-heart cherry 

 tree was trained. The points of the branches next to the 

 house had been introduced between the wall and wall plate, 

 and were trained on the back trellis of the peach house, 

 covering about twelve feet square of surface. The house 

 was closed and the temperature raised to 50 degrees about 

 the middle of January. About the first of February the 

 buds on the portion of the cherry tree inside of the 

 house began to burst. Soon the whole surface was covered 

 with snowy blossoms, while the large tree outside was 

 dormant, the soil in which it grew frozen six inches deep 

 and the ground covered with one foot of snow. In the 

 mouth of May we were clipping off the large bunches of 

 ripe, luscious fruit, while the tree outside was one .^mass 

 of bloom. The new shoots on the branches inside had 

 ripened their wood growth, and were as bare of foliage 

 as the trees of the forest in winter, while the parent 

 tree outside was making a vigorous growth. We _ pause 

 to ask the question : How could the sap descend in the 

 contracted sap vessels of the new bark to the points of 

 the roots in opposition to the upward flow ? or how far 

 down the branches when that portion of the tree inside 

 had completed its season's growth ? 



Again, the house at the east eud of that range was 

 set apart for the production of early grapes. On the wall 

 outside of the house a large fig tree was trained. The 

 extreme ends of the shoots had been introduced into the 

 vinery and covered the whole of the trellis on the back 

 wall of the house. In the mouth of June we were 

 gathering large Brunswick figs, ripe, sweet and delicious, 

 whilst the fruit on the parent tree outside was hard ami 

 groen. Now, the upward flow of the sap of the fig tree 

 is very abuudant and rapid when in vigorous growth. How 

 could the descending sap from these branches inside that 

 were finishing up their season's growth and forming their 

 embryo fruit, pass the resistless flow of the ascending sap 

 in the branches outside? 



The cottage homes of England arc enshrined m story 

 and in song because of their woodbine-coversd porches 

 and jasmine aud rose-covered walls, A lady— a true flower 



jovef living in one of those quaint Elizabethan structures, 



in a freak of fancy, had introduced under the window 

 sills of a large Vmy Window, leading shoi'ts of the above 

 •lamed plants, training then up and over every available 

 space, At Christmas time, when the ''yule log'" was burn- 

 ing and the merry "waits 3 ' were singing their plaintive 

 Carols, this bay window inside was a "thing of beauty 

 and it joy — one mass of flowers and redolent with perfume, 

 arid yet the parent shrubs outside were leafless, shorn of 

 their blossoms, and gone to rest for the winter. Where 

 was the capillary attraction to cause a descent of sap in 

 those portions of the shrubs inside of that bay window V 



These illustrations show conclusively, we think, that the 

 doctrine of the "descent of the sap" is a fallacy. To 

 cause an upward flow, light moisture and heat are necessary, 

 for if these be excluded, exhalation is entirely prevented. 

 And we conclude that in the case of those portions of 

 the grape vine, cherry, fig and flowering shrubs growing 

 inside of a hot-house anil bay window, exposed to these 

 three influences, these caused their buds tu swell, unfold 



leaves aud bear flowers and fruit, whilst the trees aud 

 shrubs outside, of which they were a part, were in a 

 dormant state. These illustrations also prove that the 

 "flowing sap" begins to move in the upper branches long 

 before the ascending sap commences its upward flow from 

 the roots. 



Of all the many divisions of natural science, vegetable 

 physiology is of incalculable value to the practical horti- 

 culturist. The principal upon which it rests point to every 

 operation within his province, and show him, unerringly, 

 as no other system can, the errors and mistakes of his 

 daily practice; and as the finger-board by the roadside 

 assists the benighted traveller, so does the study of plant 

 life open up new ideas and' suggest new modes of culture, 

 based upon truths that cannot be combatted. 



The number of horticulturists are too few who today 

 can explain the various functions which roots, stems, leaves 

 and flowers have to perforin, or what action or changes 

 take place during the growth of these organs of vegetation; 

 aud yet, a perfect knowledge of these principles will render 

 more valuable assistance to the diligent inquirer after truth 

 than all else besides. 



Botanical science, unapplied, is of no value whatever to 

 the horticulturists of the Mississippi valley. But this 

 science, applied for practical purposes, is the best scieuce, 

 the only science, that will afford us help in carrying for- 

 ward the great work in which we are all engaged. 



In pursuit of truth, the student must accept of Dame 

 Nature as his teacher. Let him take her by the hand 

 and enter her temple; there he will make the best of 

 her and she of him. They will get on together rarely, 

 she as his ever beneficent mother, he as her mouthpiece, 

 her conscious self, her minister and interpreter. — farmers' 

 Review. 



The common sweet-scented goldeurod (Solidago otlora) is 

 becoming an article of commerce as a tea. . Its use is said 

 to have been begun in Central Pennsylvania some fifty years 

 ago by the Germaus. This "Blue Mountain tea " sells in 

 the Chicago market for $1 a pouud.— American Grocer. 



Ceylon Vegetation. — Mr. M. M. Ballon gives the fol- 

 lowing description of Oeylon Vegetation in the American 

 Cultivator of the 29th ult.:— "The forest and jungle of 

 Ceylon abound in valuable woods. Here we have the Ebony, 

 Satiu Wood, and Oalamander Trees, the latter the most 

 highly prized of all the cabinet woods, and of which some 

 beautiful samples may be seen in the Escurial, near Madrid. 

 The entire family of the Palm is found in great perfec- 

 tion, as well as fragrant Balsams, tall Ferns, and the sin- 

 gular but valuable Indiarubber tree, with a large share of 

 its twisted roots above ground. The Bamboo, next to the 

 Coconut, the most useful of all trees to the dwellers in 

 the tropics, increases so rapidly here, that by actual mea- 

 surement it makes 12 inches vertical growth daily, or half 

 an inch per hour. It has even been said that it can be 

 seen to grow, which is almost a fact. The writer saw 

 one group of the Bamboo, less than ninety days old, which 

 i Vd 90 feet in height. Mingled with these woods are 



f rules and flowers of many varieties. At the north we 

 have distinctive forests of Pine, Cedar, Oak, &c„ and our 

 frtlits ore cultivated in orchards, but tropical verdure am! 

 Vegetation arc more promiscuous. The Breadfruit tree 



fiarticularly interests one with its deeply serrated feathery 

 eaves and its melon-shaped fruit, weighing when ripe 3 111, 

 or more. The tree forms a natural food supply to I he 

 natives, and three or four trees will nearly support a 

 family, at least keep them front hunger, the trees bear- 

 ing for nine mouths of the year and growing to a height 

 of 50 feet. The Palm asserts its predominance everywhere, 

 aud next in abundance is the Banana, bending under the 

 weight of the rich yellow fruit, always dominated by the 

 tall Coconuts, with half a tou of constantly ripening nuts 

 in every tufted top. Mingled with these are flower-bearing 

 trees 35 feet in height, iucluding the red Rhododendron 

 and the scarlet-blossomed Cotton tree, while flowers less 

 pretentious catch the eye in all directions among the 

 undergrowth. The sacred Lotus, as thick as Pond Lilies 

 with us, floats upon the shaded pools and perfumes the 

 air." [Who is Mr. Ballon, and bow came he to repre- 

 sent the north of Oeylon as possessing a vegetation of 

 pines, eedarb, ant! oakt, 'f— Ejd.J 



