THE FARMER'S MANUAL. 185 



ceived, and our surprise need not be great, that exu- 

 dation is not suspected to be the cause. In the sea- 

 son when I remarked the honey-dew upon the ever- 

 green oak, in globules, this tree bore two sorts of 

 leaves ; the old ones, of a close tissue, like those of the 

 holly, or those trees which, on the approach of win- 

 ter, do not shed their leaves ; and the new ones, 

 which were yet tender, and which had shot forth only 

 a short time. The honey-dew appeared constantly 

 only on the leaves of the year old ; the leaves were, 

 however, still covered with the tufts of the new 

 shoots, and consequently sheltered from all species 

 of rime, or drisling rain, which might have fallen upon 

 them ; this is a convincing proof, that the honey-dew 

 is not foreign to the leaves on which it is found, and 

 that it never appears in any other place, as the 

 new shoots of our ever-green oaks, which ought to 

 have been touched the first, as being the most expos- 

 ed, did not exhibit the smallest drop. The samt sin- 

 gularity struck me in regard to the honey-dew of the 

 bramble, although, by the conformation of this shrub, 

 all its leaves are exposed nearly alike to the air, or 

 to'the dew, which should fall in a vertical direction. 

 The honey-dew appeared only upon the old leaves, 

 the new ones had not a greater quantity than the new 

 shoot of the oak, which has just been mentioned. 

 It is probably only the long exposure to the air, per- 

 haps to its intemperature, and especially to the sun, 

 which ought to be regarded as the true agent of this 

 secretion. To elucidate this subject still further, the 

 plants or shrubs of different species in the vicinity of 

 which the honey-dews appear, and of a nature less 

 suitable to the formation of the juice of which I am 

 now speaking, do not carry the least vestige df it. 

 This honey never appears on the rocks, or stones, un- 

 der the trees on which it is found, which is a fresh 

 proof, that this species of liquid manna does not fall 

 from the air like rain, as it would then diffuse itself 

 on all bodies indifferently, and would not appear sole- 

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