182 



LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 



produces are allowed to come to 

 maturity, it will soon cease to live ; 

 not only because it is in the leaves 

 alone that the moisture imbibed by 

 the roots is elaborated into the sap 

 or -vital juice of the plant ; but 

 because the leaves act as mouths to 

 take in nourishment from the air. 

 Nothing so decidedly shows the 

 ignorance or knowledge of a gar- 

 dener, as the manner in which he 

 treats the leaves of plants. Those 

 j of bulbs many gardeners ynU, if not 

 prevented, cut off as soon as the 

 I plants have done liowering ; and, in 

 j general, gardeners wish to perform 

 j the same operation on all herbaceous 

 plants after they have flowered. 

 "When a man of this description 

 makes a layer or a cutting of a shoot 

 that has the leaves on, he either 

 takes them off entirely, or cuts off 

 their tips, not knowing that it is by 

 means of the leaves alone that such 

 cuttings can produce roots. (See 

 Cuttings.) At the base of every 

 leaf there is the rudiment of a bud, 

 either visible or dormant, and 

 unless the leaf be allowed to come 

 to maturity, this rudiment is killed 

 or prevented from becoming a vital 

 germ. Wherever buds are required, 

 therefore, it is necessary to presei-ve 

 leaves. But leaves not only return 

 sap to the buds at the base of their 

 petioles, but through these petioles 

 they return sap to the general 

 circulation of the plant ; and hence, 

 the gi'0-v\i;h both o? the roots of the 

 plant and its shoots depends entirely 

 on the number of its healthy leaves. 

 Leaves perform their office of elabo- 

 rating the sap by exposure to the 

 light and air, and more especially to 

 the dii-ect influence of the sun ; 

 therefore, it is not sufficient to pre- 

 serve the leaves which a plant 

 produces, it is also necessary to 

 prevent them from being darkened 

 by adjoining plants or other objects, 



or from darkening other leaves. 

 This, in some cases, requires thin- 

 ning both of leaves and shoots ; but 

 more generally it may be effected by 

 placing the plant in an open airy 

 situation. As the progress of a 

 plant, therefore, after it is once 

 originated, and planted in a proper 

 soil and situation, depends entirely 

 on the leaves and on their treat- 

 ment, it follows that the growth of 

 the plant may be in a great measure 

 checked by the removal of the 

 leaves, either before they have burst 

 from the bud or immediately after- 

 wards. In this way Mr. Beaton has 

 reduced the shoots of the most 

 vigorous-growing fruit-trees without 

 ever once using the knife. The 

 same principle may be applied in 

 the case of every other description 

 of plant. 



Leaves are also occasionally used 

 instead of manure or tan for hot- 

 beds ; and very frequently for what 

 are called linings to old hotbeds, the 

 heat of which has decreased, as very 

 great beat is generated by leaves 

 while undergoing the process of 

 decay. 



Le^dum. — Ericdcece. — The Lab- 

 rador Tea. — American low shrubs, 

 with pretty white flowers, which 

 require to be grown in peat and 

 sand, heath-mould, or very sandy 

 loam. Ledujfi huxifoUum, the 

 Sand Myrtle, is frequently called 

 Ammyrslne huxifolia in the nurser- 

 ies. It is a very pretty, compact- 

 growing, little plant, with box-tree 

 leaves, and clusters of white flowers, 

 which have a pink tinge on the back 

 of the petals. It is very suitable 

 for beds in a geometric flower- garden, 

 or for rock- work ; but it requires 

 a slight protection during severe 

 frosts. 



Leguminous Plants, -^ Plants 

 that produce their seed in a pod or 

 legume, like the common Beau and 



