1818.] of burying Weeds. 89 



the most convincing proof that plants, even of the tenderest 

 kind, and such as most quickly decompose in the air, will 

 require a very long time to pass through this process in the 

 earth. 



Of the various branches of trees placed in the pit, a number 

 of them having lost their leaves (at the proper time I suppose) 

 were full of bud, and those buds were again ready to burst with 

 their various contents, though the scales were not yet expanded ; 

 a strong confirmation, I think, that the whole process of the 

 flowers and leaves is formed in the interior, and not in the bark, 

 as Mr. Knight supposes. Had this been the case, would not 

 some assistance have been wanted to bestow air, elaborate the 

 juices, recompose them, and make amends for the light they 

 must require in the bud ? whereas in the interior all is ready 

 prepared. The root is the complete laboratory of plants, whence 

 the juices are propelled, and formed according to their respective 

 affinity. But I have always found that every agricultural expe- 

 riment only more thoroughly proves and confirms what dissection 

 had before shown me. In the oak branches I could detect both 

 the flower and leaf. The horse chesnut was ready to protrude 

 its leaves, while the flowers were less backward than they gene- 

 rally are on the 1st of May. But what was most curious, the buds 

 had none of the glutinous matter which generally surrounds them, 

 and the scales were completely fixed, which leads me to believe 

 that the flowers (if the branches had not been taken out of the 

 earth at this time) would not have protruded, though the leaves 

 would ; but I shall certainly repeat this experiment next year. 

 The walnut was quite dead, but the ash was apparently in the 

 act of giving out its flowers. The alder had many leaf buds, 

 but few flower buds : they all died soon after being exposed to 

 the air ; a fact which shows how fully unfit a medium the earth 

 is for making vegetable manure. 



The method which the Chinese employ for forming little 

 diminutive fruit trees for the ornament of their {rays, is analogous 

 to this subject, and shows how easy it is to make the roots of 

 plants grow in any part. They place a shelf close to the pro- 

 jecting branch of the tree which they mean thus to reduce ; they 

 surround it with earth, fixing a bottle of water above with a long 

 piece of felt hanging out of it ; the water then drops on the 

 earth, constantly keeping it moist, and soon the roots are sure 

 to shoot from the opposite side, forming radicles enough to 

 nourish the branch, when it is separated from its parent plant ; 

 thus a whole tree is by degrees formed into many small ones. 

 I have found this plan to succeed even with forest trees, as well 

 as with every sort of fruit tree, one or two excepted. This very 

 much resembles the manner in which the long roots form in the 

 earth ; they continually shoot from the part of the stem opposite 

 Jto the branch, and in grass from the ends of the shoots ; in 

 pther plants they not only form opposite roots as in trees, but 



