326 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



GROWIKG STUMPS. 



From the observations above made, it will be seen that there is no difficulty 

 in accounting for the curious fact which has long been regarded as a great 

 mystery, that the stumps of fir trees, which do not sprout, have been known 

 to continue forming new layers of wood and bark for a great number of 

 years. Dutrochet mentions the case of a stump of the silver fir which thus 

 grew from 1743 till 1836, when it was still alive, having formed since the tree 

 was felled, ninety-two thin layers of wood. The roots of the living stump 

 were doubtless grafted to the roots of some healthy tree or trees in its vicinity, 

 and their elaborated sap was attracted into the sound bark and supplied the 

 necessary material for the development of new tissues under the influence of 

 its vital force. The outer layer of the roots of the stump was thus renewed 

 annually, and so they retained their power of absorption; but since the top 

 of the stump, becoming dry and having no foliage, could not exhale moisture, 

 the crude sap of its roots ascended into the neighboring tree or trees to which 

 they were united. Thus a sort of circulation was maintained suflBcient to ex- 

 plain the phenomena observed. 



ANOTHER PECULIARITY 



often to be seen in the stems and branches of trees and shrubs, as in the pear, 

 the apple, the hemlock, and the lilac, is the spiral growth or twisting of the 

 wood and bark, which is sometimes visible during the life of such specimens, 

 and always when the bark is removed and the timber seasoned. Some have 

 endeavored to account for this phenomenon by referring it to the effect of the 

 wind, but it is frequently seen on trees which grow in sheltered situations. 

 The timber of Pinus lonqifoUa, a valuable tree of Northern India, is often 

 rendered worthless by this habit of growth ; and while such trees are more 

 numerous in some regions than in others, they are found irregularly scattered 

 among those which do not exhibit this abnormal structure. 



THE SURPRISING PHENOMENA 



of pressure and suction exerted upon mercurial gauges attached to the trunks 

 and roots of such trees as bleed or flow from wounds in the spring, which 

 were described in the paper presented to the board last year, gave abundant 

 encouragement for further investigation. Accordingly, numerous experi- 

 ments have been undertaken and some thousands of observations recorded, 

 which have been tabulated, and are appended in as compact a form as possi- 

 ble. To accomplish so much work as is here represented in a single season, 

 required the cordial co-operation of a considerable number of persons. It is 

 proper that the names of those ofiicers and students of the college who have 

 faithfully and intelligently labored to accumulate these facts should be an- 

 nounced in connection with what they have done. If all who enjoy the 

 privileges of students in natural science would exhibit the same enthusiasm 

 for the acquisition of new truths, they would thereby not only improve them- 

 selves, but increase the common stock of knowledge with a rapidity alto- 

 gether unprecedented. 



THE OBSERVERS. 



Prof. Levi Stockbridge has made nearly all the observations on the flow of 

 sap in the sugar maple, and has faithfully kept the record of the variations 

 of pressure in the mercurial and water gauges on the sugar maple, the red 



