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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTITEE ANB COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ Norember 24, 13G3. 



tiiem by themselves. Let it be remembered, that they, 

 various and beautiful as they ai-e, are after all only shades 

 of red, fi'om very faiut blush up to brilliant and dark 

 crimson ; for Madame Rivers, and Cai'oline de Sansal, and 

 even Mademoiselle Bonnaire, are not white Roses, and 

 Louise Dai'zins is more of a Noisette, and will never make an 

 exhibition Rose. And then to exclude the buffs and yellows 

 amongst the Teas and Noisettes would, I am sm-e, be a 

 most linmse step^they help so to relieve the boxes, that I 

 Cftiinot conceive a stand would look weU without Gloire de 

 Dijon, CeUne Forestier, or Triomphe de Eennes. At the 

 same time, I do not think undue preference should be given 

 hy judges to those stands where these appear. It is not in 

 the south of England much more difficult to grow a Tea 

 Rose than a Hybrid Perpetual, and yet often I fancy there 

 is ain impression that of five or six Roses from amongst 

 the Teas and Noisettes, the stand which is so fui'nished 

 ought, whatever be the merit of the flowers, to have the 

 preference. It strikes me that this is wrong, and that the 

 judgment ought to be in-espective of the classes, simjily on 

 the merits, individual merits, of the flowers shown. 



V. Abe Fancy Classes Desieable ? — Let me explain my 

 meaning- : — such a prize, for instance, as one for a single 

 truss. To take off a £2 prize for one Jules Margottin, is, no 

 doubt, a very nice thing ; but is it not calculated to mis- 

 lead ? and might not the funds be better employed ? These 

 bouquets of Roses, unless some definite notion of the terms of 

 adjudication be given, must continue to be what they have 

 proved — a soui'ce of peii^lexity to judges, and of annoyance 

 to exhibitors. At the Crystal Palace the Judges were told 

 that the vase in which it was exhibited had nothing to do 

 with the merit of the bouquet ; the quality of the flowers 

 and the taste of the aiTangement were the points to be con- 

 sidered : hence the prize was given to a very fine bouquet 

 of very fine Roses. At Kensington, on the other hand, 

 the quality of the Roses seems never to have been con- 

 sidered. The fii'st prize was awarded to one of Mr. Mai-eh's 

 stands, which contained corals, &e., and a few very poor 

 specimens of Roses, and was avowedly given because of the 

 taste displayed in the stand, which taste I considered very 

 questionable, my notions on that point tending towards 

 severe simplicity, and abhon-Lng all cockneyism. 



I have thus gone over the vai-ious points connected with 

 Rose-exhibiting that have suggested themselves to me. The 

 opinions aie my own, although in most of them I am 

 strengthened by the opinion of some of the most successful 

 exhibitors we have, both amongst niu-serymen and amateurs, 

 and I shall be only too glad if they are the means of opening 

 up a discussion on the points. The more such subjects are 

 discussed, if done in a friendly spirit, the moi-e I am per- 

 suaded wiU good be effected ; and let us hope that Rose- 

 showing may be in fashion even more than it has hitherto 

 been. Not a grower in the kingdom but has to tell of very 

 large quantities being sold this autumn, and this we must 

 hope is suggestive of an increased interest in the loveliest 

 and most generally loved of all flowers. — D., Deal. 



DO LEAVES ABSOEB MOISTURE FROM THE 

 ATMOSPHERE ? 



YouE correspondent "S. L. G., Cornwall," asks for more 

 information on this subject. 



The question, as will be seen on referring to the works of 

 physiologists, is a disputed one ; some contending that leaves 

 do, and others that they do not, absorb atmospheric moistru'e. 

 Bonnet, who paid much attention to this subject, found that 

 some plants absorb moistiu'e either by the upper or under 

 surface of the leaf indifferently, but that some absorb more 

 powerfully bj- one surface than the other. He fovmd that 

 the leaves of the Kidney Bean and Cabbage, with some other 

 vegetables, retained their verdure equally long whichever 

 side was deprived of the power of absorption, wliilst the 

 Marvel of Peru and others lost their hfe soonest when the 

 upper surface was prevented from absorbing ; and, on the 

 other hand, that, of many trees and shrubs, the leaves soon 

 died when absorption by the under surface was prevented. 

 These experiments, however, cannot be considered conclusive 

 that leaves absorb moisture, for by preventing absorption he 

 would hinder evaporation in some cases, and respiration in 



others. Dr. Lindley agrees with Bonnet, but many eminent 

 men advance in proof of the non-absorbing power of leaves 

 that if they be made to float on coloui'ed infusions no colour- 

 ing matter whatever enters them. I wiU give proof suffi- 

 cient, I think, to convince even the most sceptical that leaves 

 in a healthy condition do possess an absorbent power ; and 

 I hope to show, when roots are disposed of, that it is by no 

 means uncommon for leaves to absorb nutriment from the 

 atmosphere iiTespective of that collected by the spongioles. 



If a plant be allowed to become d:'y at the root the leaves 

 will flag fr'om want of moistui'e. They emit more water than 

 the roots afford them. Syringe the plant whilst under the 

 same amount of light, and the leaves regain their original 

 freshness. I am aware, if the plant were placed in a moister 

 atmosphere and shaded fr'om light so as to prevent too 

 hasty evaporation, that the leaves would become fresh. But 

 how could the leaves repair the waste consequent on eva- 

 poration if they did not absorb moisture ? That they 

 obtain moisture from some source is manifest, but whether 

 fr-om the atmosphere by absoi-ption or from the diy soU 

 tlu-ough the spongioles is a matter of doubt. If they obtain ■ 

 the moisture through the spongioles it is evident that syring- 

 ing the plant whUst under the influence of light hinders • 

 evaporation. De CandoUe assigns light alone as the cause • 

 of evaporation, but di-yness has quite as much to do 

 with the evaporation of water by leaves, as in the ease of 

 plants in rooms dark but di'y. If light be the cause of eva- 

 poration it is evident we do not cause darkness by syringing 

 the plant's leaves, therefore evaporation goes on t the roots 

 do not pump up more moisture, and yet the leaves become 

 fi-esh. We, however, will not syringe a drooping plant, nor 

 place it in a moister atmosphere, nor shade it from Ught, but 

 let Natui-e take her course. There shall be no syi-inging of 

 the house, the temperatm-e shall not be altered, and the 

 degree of humidity, as indicated by a dry and wet bulb 

 thermometer, shall remain the same during the night as 

 during the presence of light. Examining the plant at mid- 

 night the leaves stiU droop. There is no moisture in the 

 atmosphere, and the darkness does not prevent evaporation. 

 Morning finds it no better. We wiB then syringe it, prevent 

 water reaching the roots, and keep it fr-om Ught, spri n kli n g 

 every available siu-faoe with water, shutting up the house, 

 and syringing the plant again before dark, also allowing the 

 temperature to fall considerably during the night so as to 

 favour' condensation. The result will be that the leaves will 

 be fr'esli in the morning. Fm-ther : during hot dry weather 

 in summer when the ground is little short of dry dust, 

 what gives the flagging leaves by day theii' freshness in the 

 morning? Not because they inhaled oxygen and liberated 

 carbonic acid ; but because they absorb moisture along with 

 the oxygen, in sufficient quantity to repair- the waste of the 

 previous day, again to be exhaled during the day, miless the 

 weather prove cloudy. If, however, the day be sunny the 

 oxygen inlialed during the night is exhaled diu-ing the day. 

 This I have on the authority of Saussure. If plants derived 

 no benefit fr-om dews the non-absorbing powers of leaves 

 would be determined; but as all foliage is refi-eshed by 

 moisture or dew falling on it during the night, the absorb- 

 ing power of leaves seems to be established. Further : every 

 operation in the cultivation of plants by artificial appliances 

 acts on the principle of moisture being absorbed by leaves at 

 night. The cultivator bedews his plants with water, makes 

 all moist about them, and seeks to rest them by keeping the 

 temperature 15° to 25° less by night than dming the day. 



Again : let a Gloxinia leaf be detached fr-om the root, 

 it cannot, therefore, obtain any moisture in that way, and 

 expose it to the influence of the sun or light so as to cause 

 evaporation from it until one-fourth its weight is lost fr-om 

 evaporation ; then place the footstalk of the leaf (petiole) 

 in a quUl filled with oil, so as to prevent absorption through 

 it ; next moisten the upper and lower surface of the leaf, and, 

 sticking the quiU in moistened silver sand, place a bell-glass 

 over it, and put it in the dark. The leaf regams its fresh- 

 ness, and if we examine the under surface we find it dry, the 

 moisture having been absorbed more quickly by it than by 

 the upper surface, which remains moist or wet. Absorption 

 is, therefore, more rapid by the under than the upper sur- 

 face of a Gloxinia leaf. A Gloxinia leaf is covered with a 

 quantity of hairs on both sides, every one of which performs 

 no mean office in the vegetable economy, and that office, I 



