1879. 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



243 



not an individual, but a republic — a colhclion of 

 individuals in which the different sexes and 

 the diftereut relations of society might be fairly 

 paralleled. The evils resulting from the im- 

 proper views of sex in plants were shown, not 

 only by the speculations on cross-fertilir^'^tion 

 prevalent, but by the theories of K.ii^ht and 

 others on the wearing out of varieties, which 

 <;ould have no substance when the true idea of 

 sex in plants was perceived. 



"The subject of odor in flowers was specially 

 dwelt on to show that it had no very near rela- 

 tion to sex, and consequently could have no 

 bearing on questions of fertilization either by in- 

 sect or any other agency. In Indian Corn and 

 other dioecious or monoecious plants, odor 

 abounded in the male flowers, but was wholly 

 wanting in the female flowers, and there was as 

 much or more odor in leaves and stems than in 

 flowers. 



"In animals, sex had evidently an essential bear- 

 ing on the continuance of the race ; besides this 

 an evident object was to give variety. Could 

 animals divide and reproduce as plants could, 

 identity would be difficult. Nature therefore 

 has variation as a leading object of sex. It is 

 necessary even to the dull intellect of an insect, 

 that there should be variety in plants, to enable 

 it to choose its food. Only thus far did any great 

 analogy between sex in plants and animals be- 

 gin. It promoted variation and individualiza- 

 tion, and then there were wholly diff"erent ob- 

 jects in sex in plants not aimed at by animal 

 sex. A morning glory or a balsam would die by 

 the first white frost ; but the seed would endure 

 a temperature far below zero, and in this way 

 distribution and preservation were ministered to 

 in a manner wholly unknown as the result of sex 

 in the animal world. 



"The relations of nutrition to sex were then 

 touched on. He showed that sex itself was a 

 mere attribute of nutrition to begin with, illus- 

 trating this position especially by the flowers 

 of Pine trees which bore female flowers on the 

 branches most favorably situated as regards nu- 

 trition, the same branches producing male flow- 

 ers only when by any circumstance they became 

 weakened ; as for instance by the over shadowing 

 of the larger ones. He applied this principle to 

 the production of clover seeds, orchard fruits, 

 and so forth ; showing that questions of nutrition 

 underlied all questions of cross-fertilization or of 

 any fertilization by means of pollen. This he illus- 

 trated by numerous cases familiar to the farmer 



and gardener, and concluded by observing that 

 as the object of sex in plants and animals were 

 difl'erent, speculations drawn from a supposed 

 analogy were dangerous even in theory ; and 

 that they were unsound in practice the instances 

 cited would prove." 



ARE PLANTS FED THROUGH THEIR 

 LEAVES? 



BY PETER HENDERSON, JERSEY CITY HEIGHTS, 

 NEW JERSEY. 



In the July number, Mr. Milton seems to think 

 he has settled this question when he tells us his 

 Bilbergias have made a growth without roots, and 

 that when we sprinkle a lot of unrooted wilted 

 cuttings, we know that in a short time they will 

 regain their plumpness in leaf and stem. That 

 this statement is correct there is no doubt, and 

 it does seem on first view to annihilate my 

 doubts. 



On the 2d of July , the day I received the Month- 

 ly, I cut off fifty strong growing soft shoots of 

 Geraniums, Petunias, Verbenas and Heliotropes, 

 threw them down in the hot sun until they were 

 thoroughly wilted. One half of them I immersed 

 in soup plates filled with water ; the cut ends of 

 the other half I covered with soft putty and 

 oiled paper, so as to prevent absorption through 

 the cut stem even from the air. I then im- 

 mersed all of these in the water except the 

 sealed ends. I placed them in a greenhouse 

 over night, and in the morning found that those 

 that had been completely immersed were as fresh 

 as when cut from the living plants, while those 

 that were immersed with the sealed up stem out 

 of the water were limp and wilted, seemingly 

 as much so as when immersed. Now if I am 

 correct in this experiment, and it is easily tried, 

 it is fair to infer that the sprinkled cuttings, re- 

 suming their plum^iness as referred to by Mr. 

 Milton, absorbed through the cut stem rather 

 than the leaves. For if absorption had taken 

 place through the leaves, the sealed up lot 

 would have been as fresh as the others, for only 

 the part sealed up was left out of the water. 



But the question may be asked why does Mr. 

 Milton's Bilbergia increase in growth and weight 

 while suspended without roots if my Cactuses 

 did not ? I can only answer this by supposing 

 that the vessels of the cut stem of the Bilbergia 

 are better fitted for absorption than those of the 

 Cactus ; or it may be that some species of plants 

 do absorb to a limited extent through the leaves. 

 My opinions to that extent of the subject are by 



