80 ON THE ROOTS OF PLANTS. 



when a soil is light, porous, and shallow, the 

 roots meeting no obstruction, divide and form 

 a great number of fibres, which ranging hori- 

 zontally, and being more exposed to the effect 

 of sun and air, incline a plant more to be- 

 come fructiferous than to an increase of wood, 

 or an extension of branches ; and in such a 

 situation, the greatest supply of food being ap- 

 propriated to the production of fruit or seed, 

 the plants grow less to stalk, branches, and leaf. 

 Hence it is very truly remarked by an inge- 

 nious writer on fruit trees, that " they produce 

 the most generous fruits when their roots spread 

 near the surface of the earth," and whether we 

 consider such effects to be produced by the 

 roots being kept more within the influence of 

 the sun and air, or by the peculiar nature of 

 the food supplied by the soil in such a situa- 

 tion, it operates in support of one and the same 

 conclusion, viz. that it is necessary the roots 

 should be kept near the surface ; for whether 

 that which supplies the food of plants be a red, 

 a black, or a brown loam, or sand, or clay, the 

 proper quality of food, or habit in the plant, 

 to induce fructification, and produce the most 

 perfect seed and fruit, and the most abundant 

 quantity, can only be furnished within a certain 

 depth. 



