1857. j Cincinnati Horticultural Society — Proceedings. 183 



contained alike perfect independent plants in embryo, synonyms of 

 each other, or, more fully, that the bud like the seed, when jdaced 

 under favorable circumstances, would develoj) an csrendiiK/ tnid dc- 

 scending axis, perfect in all its parts, plumule ;iii(l bramlus, roots 

 and rootlets. This theory, though beautiful and jiuctic he regard- 

 ed as unsound; nor was it new; and though huary witli age, yet it 

 must not be held irreverent to scrutinize its pretensions. He then 

 examined the function of the seed ; it was to reproduce its kind ; 

 while the office of the bud is to extend the growth of the individual 

 parent plant. He admitted that the bud has the capacity to assume 

 an independent growth, but denied that it can ever be made to pro- 

 duce a true Phyton ; and asserted that every tree formed from layer 

 is to be regarded as an abnormal tree, as every tree formed upon a 

 root is an abnormal product ; and that every bud, that is made to 

 develop roots, does so on the principle of accomodation ; the opera- 

 tion is, therefore, forced and unnatural. We may force roots from 

 the cambium layer of such plants, from any portion of the inter- 

 nodes, but who will presume to say that such roots are in this cambi- 

 um layer in perfection, as is the root undeveloped between the co- 

 tyledonous buds which may be seen by the microscope. Hence he 

 inferred that every root proceeding from such branch is abnormal 

 and adventitious. He maintained that Nature's great treasure-house 

 is in her seeds ; hence the expediency of grafting and budding on 

 healthy seedlings, in order to arrest the tendency to more rapid de- 

 generacy by propagating from layers. Every seed of a dicotyledon- 

 ous plant contains an embryon plant within it — a, Phyton, 



Saturday, Feb. 21. 

 The President and Vice President being absent, the Society was call- 

 ed to order by the Secretary, and, on motion, Mr. F. Gr. Gary was 

 called to the chair. 



An interesting communication from Colonel Wilder, of Massa- 

 chusetts, on the culture of the Dwarf Pear, was read ; also, a letter 

 from Hon. G. E. Puoii, on the transmission of seeds from the Gov- 

 ernment, and a communication from Mr. S. W. Pomeroy, announc- 

 ing that the seed of the Portuguese Onion could be supplied to those 

 desiring it, by applying to this office, D4 East Third street, and stat- 

 ing that it is much superior to our own varieties, being free from 

 the strong flavor and offensive odor that render ours so objectionable, 



