182 



BROWNE'S TREES OE AMERICA. 



therefore, a "primary biul," the diCTerence being 

 one of condition anil not of nature. 



It is nianifosl, then, that the plant which gprinfjs 

 from a binl is as really a new plant as (hat which 

 spi'inps from a seeil; anil it is eiiually Inic, that a 

 seeil may convey the weakness ami iliseases of its 

 parent with as much facility asa biul or agraft iloes. 

 If the feebleness of a tree is general, its functions 

 languid, its secretions thin, then a bud or graft will 

 be feeble, — ami so would be its seed; or if a tree 

 be thoroughly tainted with disease, the buds would 

 not escape, nor the trees springing from them — 

 neither would its seed, or a tree springing from it. 

 A tree from bud of the Doyenne pear is just as 

 much a new tree as one from its seed. 



The idea which we controvert )ias received en- 

 couragement from the fact, that a bud jiroduces a 

 fruit like the parent tree, while, often times, a seed 

 yields only a variety of such fruit. But, it is pro- 

 bable that this is never the case with seeds except 

 when they have been brought into a state of what 

 Van Mons calls, variation. In their natural and 

 uncultivated state, seeds will reproduce their parent 

 with as much (idelity as a bud or a graft. 



The liability of a variety to run out, when propa- 

 gated by bud or graft, is not a whit greater than 

 when propagated by seed, in so far as tlie nature 

 of the vegetable is concerned. 



But it is true that the conditions in which a bud 

 grows render it liable to extrinsic ills not inciden- 

 tal to a j>lant springing from seed. A seed emit- 

 ting its roots directly into the earth, is liable only 

 to its own ills; a bud or graft, emitting roots 

 through the alburnum of the stock on which it is 

 established, into the earth, is subject to the infir- 

 mities of the stock as well as to its own. Thus, a 

 healthy seed produces a healthy plant. A healthy 

 bud, may produce a feeble plant, because inocu- 

 lated upon a diseased branch or stem. 



Instead of a limitation in their nature, there is 

 reason to suppose that trees might flourish to an 

 indefinite age were it not for extrinsic difficulties. 

 A tree, unlike an animal, is not a single, simple 

 organization, it is rather a community of plants. 

 Every bud separately is an elementary plant, capa- 

 ble, if disjoined from the branch, of becoming a 

 tree by itself. In fact, each bud emits roots, which 

 uniting together, go down upon a common support 

 (the trunk) and enter the earth, and are there 

 put in connection with appropriate food. Every 

 fibre of root may be traced upward to its bud from 

 which it issued. 



In j>rocess of time, the elongation of the trunk 

 exposes it to accidents; the branches arc subject to 

 the force of storms; in proportion as the distance 

 from the roots increases, and the longer the passa- 

 ges lliniugh wliich the up[ier sap, or downward 

 elaborated sap travels, the more liabilities are there 

 to stojipage and injury. 'I'he reason of decline in 

 a tree is not to be looked for in any exhaustion of 

 vital force, in the organization itself, but it is to be 

 found in the immense surface and substance ex- 

 posed to the wear and tear of the elements. 



It would seem, if this view be true, that no 

 bounds can be placed to the duration of perrennial 

 plants, if, by any means, we could diminish their 

 exposure, by reducing their ex|>ansion, by keeping 

 them within a certain sphere of growth. Now this 

 is exactly what is accomplished by budding. A 

 bud, far remo\ed on the parent stock from the root 

 and connected with it through a long trunk, is 

 inoculated upon a new stock. It now grows with 

 a comparatively limited exposure to interruption 

 or accident. The connection with the soil is short 

 and ilirect. 



In this manner a variety of fruit may be perpetu- 

 ated to all generations, if the laws of vegetable 

 health be regarded in the process. Healthy buds, 

 worked upon healthy stocks and planted in whole- 

 some soil, will make healthy trees; and from these 

 another generation may proceed, and from these 

 another. By a due regard to vegetable physiology, 

 the Newtown pippin, and the Seckle Pear, may be 

 eaten two thousand years hence, provided, always, 

 that expounders of prophecy will allow us the use 

 of the earth so long for orchard purposes. A dis- 

 regard of the laws of vegetable physiology in the 

 propagation of varieties, will, on the other hand, 

 rajiidly deteriorate the most healthy sort. There 

 is no clock-work in the branches of the tree, which 

 finally runs down past all winding up; there is no 

 fixed quantity of vitality, which a variety at length 

 uses up, as a garrison does its bread. Plants renew 

 themselves and every year have a fresh life, and, 

 in this respect, they differ essentially from all 

 forms of animal existence. Any one tree may wear 

 out; but a variety, never. 



We need not say, therefore, that we dissent from 

 Knight's theory of natural exhaustion and from 

 every supplement to it put forth since his day. 

 Van Mons' theory oi variation and the tendency of 

 plants to return toward their original type^ is to be 

 regarded as nearer the truth. 



REVIE-W. 



The Trees of America: Native and Foreign, 

 Pictorially and Botanically delineated, and sci- 

 entifically and popularly described ; principally, 

 with reference to their Geography, History, Pro- 

 pagation, Culture, Diseases, <§rc., SfC, their eco. 

 nomy in the .^rts, introduction into Commerce, 

 and their application in useful and ornamental 



Plantations. Illustrated by numerous engrav- 

 ings. By D. J. Browne. 1 vol. octavo, 520 pp. 

 $5. Harper & Brothers, New-York. 



The forest trees of America : what a grand 

 subject for a writer of genius, who is at 

 once a profound observer, and an enthusias. 



