IX RELATION TO THE DURABILITY OF TIMBER. 277 



after it has stood the tooth of time for centuries, is a notorious 

 fact, and much conjecture has originated as to the causes of such 

 marked contrast. Now it appears to me that a great amount of 

 the causes of such inferiority in the durability of modern grown 

 timber may be traced to the defective modes in raising, trans- 

 planting^ pruning, and general 7nanagement of plantation-grown 

 timber. 



As I shall treat the subject as a purely physiological one, it 

 will, I think, be well to preface the observations which I intend 

 to make on each head with some general remarks upon the phy- 

 siology of vegetable life, keeping as near to the direct question 

 as possible, and with the utmost brevity consistent with a clear 

 exposition of my ideas. 



To the theory of Dr. Darwin, at least to such an extent as to 

 look upon a perfect plant as a distinct individual, I am a 

 decided disciple. It is losing sight of this truthful and beau- 

 tiful idea that has caused so much diversity of opinion amongst 

 physiologists, and has ever been a stumbling-block to the prac- 

 tical application of their views. It is a fatality attending the 

 birth of great truths that they should be treated harshly, and 

 often with ridicule, even with neglect, and the theory of Dr. 

 Darwin formed no exception to the rule. Half a century has 

 scarcely enabled it to run alone ; " yet it cannot now be doubted 

 that the analogy that he laboured to demonstrate between plants 

 and animals, is every day becoming more and more certain."* 



That a plant f is a distinct organized being as a whole, and that 

 each part is hut a part, bearing certain organic relations to every 

 other part, may, I think, be rendered evident ; and I conceive it 

 to be equally clear of demonstration, that if such an individual 

 is by the operations of the propagator made to assume the 

 appearance of several individuals, the grounds of the argument 

 remain the same, and that each part, though it performs a 

 separate existence, has imperfect functions, and is not a perfect 

 individual. This is not apparent in all cases, but it is in many : 

 I shall proceed to exemplify a few. The majority of individuals 

 comprising the great family of Pines have each a uniform 

 character, any deviation from which is easily detected. In many 

 instances the loss of a branch would be as readily detected by 

 the most casual observer as that of a limb from a quadruped. 

 Recall the characters of Pinus Webbiana, or of Araucaria 

 imbricata, and the truth of the argument is evident. In most 

 of the Pinuses and analogous genera their true character is only 

 witnessed in seedling specimens. From cuttings and grafts they 



* Penny Cyclopaedia. 



t I mean a perfect plant, one raised from a seed. 



u 2 



