1837] 



F A R M E R S' REGISTER. 



271 



ticnt observation, and beinij tolerably free from 

 detects, in the <Troiipin<T and arratiLrement ol'ibe 

 nmterials. The authors ol" these artich^'', are — 

 Mr. Maeuillivrav, conservator in tlie JVliisenni of 

 tlie Royal College ol'Surireons, in i<'dinbnrirh, and 

 Mr. ArchihaKl (Jorrie, Annat Garden, Ferihsliire, 

 boih oet\Uenien admirably qualified, by the nature 

 of their pursuits, to I'urnish remarks of no mean 

 value to botanical science ; wlule the. former, Irom 

 his extensive excursions in the nonhern counties, 

 and in the western islands, is enabh-d to improve 

 our ideas on the subject, by relerences to the soils 

 of pariicular localities. 



Soils, in treneral, oidy ^ive rise to plants, for the 

 rearinij; of which they appear, owini^ to the pos 

 session of some ingredients, to be peculiarly ailapt- 

 od. The well-known fact, as to the ashes ol'burnt 

 tir trees afi'ordni<r a conijenifd soil lo the seeds ol' 

 the wild rasp, and, beinir usually covered bv such 

 bushes, may be taken as a familiar illustration. — 

 Not only is the nature of the plant occasionally 

 determined by the composition of the soil, or, in 

 other words, not only are individual soils restricted, 

 owinix to some peculiarity in their construction; to 

 the «rrowth of a limited number of genera, but the 

 parts of the plant are also liable, from similar 

 causes, to considerable variety. When tulips, for 

 example, are planted in too rich a soil, the colors 

 spread ; or if they have steadily remained of one 

 color in some pariicular soil, they will, on beinij re- 

 moved to another, break into a variety of colors. 

 A blue tino:e may be given to the petals of hy- 

 drangeas, by placing them in the red earth which 

 borders on chalybeate springs, and which (or that 

 reason is well impregnated with iron. The blos- 

 som of a common primrose, whose root has been 

 taken up and planted in another soil, loses its yel- 

 low hue, and becomes of a pale-brown or choco- 

 late color. 



Many plants delight only in soils of a peculiar 

 nature, luxuriating so long as they are adherent lo 

 grouiul ol" a particular constitution, but rapidly 

 losing in vigor and appearance when deprived, by 

 any means, of the food to which they appear to be 

 naturally adapted. "The Scotch fir, pinus syl- 

 vestris, thrives well, but does not grow fast on the 

 soil over the sandstone. Its wood, however, is 

 tough, and very durable. Bur when this same 

 tree is planted on the graywacke, though it grows 

 more rapidly, and arrives sooner at maturity, yet, 

 being softer, and fuller of white wood than that 

 grown upon the sand-stone, the builder, to his cost, 

 tinds that it is soon attacked by the worm, and de- 

 cays. The reverse ol this happens with the larch, 

 pinus larix, when growing on the graywacke. 

 its wood is sound and good, and, when cut down, 

 is at heart quite perfect. But on the sandstone 

 and gravels of this basin (Closeburn), it seems to 

 he at maturity at an earlier age than that growing 

 on the graywacke, and, in many instances, when 

 cut down on the soils, the larch presents a tubed 

 decayed heart."* Plants, however, are seldom in 

 error as to the choice of a locality, for the simple 

 reason that the soil, which will not yield to them 

 the nutriment they require, either allows the sprout 

 to perish before it meets the light, or, at best, af- 

 fords so grudgingly the elements of lile, that the 

 sickly vegetable is lain to bow before the sun and 

 wind, which, in more favorable circumstances. 



* J. S. Monteath, esq., in Edin. Phil. Journal, No. 9. 



would have served to ripen and rock it to maturity. 

 When trees are planted by man, they are, in num- 

 berless instances, [tlaced in snils and situations 

 which, if n(it inimical to the coniinuance of their 

 lives, are at least adverse to their attaining healih 

 and common-|)lace [)roporlions. Man is in this 

 way per[)etually at war with physical ciicumstan- 

 ces, which a closer inspection of natural [)henome- 

 na would show him that it is almost impossible to 

 overcome. Doubiless he may, in many cases, 

 undesignedly contend with powers whose work- 

 ings cannot be opposed, because they are beyond 

 the ken of his knowledge and experience, and his 

 strivings may even be attended, in spite of such 

 untoward operations, with a fair run of success ; 

 but surely, that is not to juslily him in proceeding 

 contrary to what is dictated by the more or less 

 perli?ct adaptation exhibited in the conjunction of 

 every stone and bush, and in neglecting to profit, 

 as he would do, by making his designs the coun- 

 terpart of those upheld to hi.r, by nature. We 

 constantly see trees occupying ixround, the features 

 of which tell us at once that there they are com- 

 pletely out of place, and that human interference 

 must have been at work to entice them so far from 

 their usual habit and locality. Pines are indige- 

 nous to sandy regions, and only come to their na- 

 tive wire-drawn scragijiness in the vicinity ol sand- 

 stone ; the oak, the elm, and the ash, delight in 

 rich thick loam, and only acquire perlection when 

 spreadinir their ample and stalwart arms over a 

 deep and fi'riile mould ; the [lensile willow is redo- 

 lent of health and beauty, only when reclining over 

 the maririn of the stream ; and the birch and alder 

 are indifferent, indeed, unless in connection with 

 the bleak moist sides of the northern mountains, to 

 which we might almost say they love to cling; yet 

 we hourly find that their peculiarities, in the choice 

 of soil and situation, are set at naught, and this 

 even in places where their planter has had every 

 liicility lor placing them in their respective and ap- 

 propriate abodes. When the dispersion of seeds 

 is left to fortuitous interference, to be transported 

 ihrough the medium of the air, of water, or of 

 animals, how seldom have we cause to fiault the 

 bed which thev discover (if we may so speak) lor 

 themselves I Rarely do we light upon a shrub or 

 tree, spruuir from a soil unsuited by temperature 

 or composition, to bring it lo perfection. This 

 may, however, be accounted for by the fiict, 

 that the greater number of plants attach them- 

 selves indiscriminately to any of a wide range of 

 soils, and thrive upon them with the same accom- 

 modating facility ; but there are, on the other hand, 

 several plants restrained by some unknown pecu- 

 liarity to certain limiis, bevond which ordinary 

 causes fliil to carry them. For example, to quote 

 from the author to whom I am already indebted for 

 an illustration — " The larch grows naturally only 

 on the primitive mountains, as the granite, gneiss, 

 and the like rocks of that class, of the Alps in 

 Switzerland. And it is most curious to observe, 

 that, on the whole range of the Jura mountains, 

 separating that country from France, and, being a 

 limestone formation, rising to an elevation of seve- 

 ral thousand leet. not a single sclf-snion larch can 

 be discovered. Advancing, however, from this 

 range into Switzerland, it may be observed, that 

 in those places, as at Chamouni, Mount Cenis, 

 the Simplon, and the lofty Alps, which pardy en- 

 close the beautiful lake of Thun, in the Canton of 



