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FARM E II S • REGIS T K R 



637 



fiite the great limit to the age and size ol trees. — 

 And in young branches from old trees, it is much 

 more liable to decompose than in similar branches 

 from seedlings. This is likewise the case with 

 grafts. The graft is only nourished by the sap o( 

 the tree to which it is transferred ; its properties 

 are not changed by it : the leaves, blossoms, and 

 fruits are of the same kind as if it had vegetaled 

 upon its parent stock. The only advantage lo be 

 gained in this way, is the afTording to a graft from 

 an old tree a more plentiful and lieallhy food than 

 it could have procured in its natural state ; it is 

 rendered for a time more vigorous, and produces 

 fairer blossoms and richer fruits. Rut it partakes 

 not merely of the obvious properties, but likewise 

 of the infirmities and disposition lo old age and 

 decay of the tree whence it sprung. 



This seems to be distinctly shown by the observ- 

 ations and experiments of Mr. Knight. He has, 

 in a number of instances, transferred the young 

 scions and healthy shoots from old esteemed fruit- 

 bearing trees to young seedlinss. They flourished 

 for two or three years ; but they soon became dis- 

 eased and sickly, like their parent trees. 



It is from this cause that so many of the apples 

 formerly celebrated for their taste and their uses 

 in the manufacture of cider are gradually dete- 

 riorating, and many will soon disappear. The red 

 streak, and the moil, so excellent in the beginning 

 of the last century, are now in the exlremest stage 

 of their decay ; and however carefully they are 

 ingrafted, they merely tend to multiply a sickly 

 and exhausted variety.* 



The tress possessing the firmest and the least 

 porous heart-wood are the longest in duration. 



In general, the quantity of charcoal afforded by 

 woods offers a tolerably accurate indication of 

 their durability : those most abundant in charcoal 

 and earthy matter are most permanent ; and those 

 that contain the largest proportion of gaseous ele- 

 ments are the most destructible. 



Amongst our own trees, the chestnut and the 

 oak are pre-eminent as to durability; and the chest- 

 nut affords rather more carbonaceous matter than 

 the oak. 



In old Gothic buildings these woods have been 

 sometimes mistaken one for the other ; but they 

 may be easily known by this circumstance, that 

 the pores in the alburnum of the oak are much 

 larger and more thickly set, and are easily distin- 

 guished ; whilst the pores in the chestnut require 

 glasses to be seen distinctly. 



In consequence of the slow decay of the heart- 

 wood of the oak and chestnut, these trees, iindtjr 

 favorable circumstances, attain an age which 

 cannot be much short of 1000 years. 



The beech, the ash, and tifie sycamore, most 



* This opinion relative to the loss of varieties of 

 fruit-bearing trees is not in accordance with the views 

 of M. De CandoUe on the subject of the length of life 

 of trees; viz. that, excluding accidents and disease, it 

 IS unlimited. JMuch deference is due to so high an 

 authority; and, assuredly, the doctrine of Mr. Knight, 

 referred to above, should not be received and acted on 

 by practical men, unless clearly demonstrated to be 

 true, because, if taken for granted, it will necessarilv 

 lead to the neglect of old varieties of fruit-trees, on 

 the idea that they are in the decline and decrepitude 

 of age, and about to die. Vide Physiologic Vegetale, 

 liv. 4, chap, xi., where the subject is most ingeni- 

 ously discussed. — J. D. 



likely never live half as long. The duration of 

 the apple-tree is not, probably, nmch more than 

 200 years; but the pear-tree, according to Mr. 

 Knight, lives through double this period. Most 

 of our best apples are supposed to have been in- 

 troduced into Britain by a fruiterer ol' Henry the 

 Eiixhth, and they are now in a state ofold age. 



The oak and chestnut decay much sooner in a 

 moist situation than in a dry and sandy soil ; and 

 their timber is less firm. The sap vessels in such 

 cases are more expanded, though less nourishing 

 matter is carried into them ; and the general tex- 

 ture of the formations of wood necessarily less 

 firm. Such wood splits more easily, and is more 

 liable to be afl^ected by variations in the state of 

 the atmosphere. 



The same trees, in general, are much longer- 

 lived in the northern than in t!ie southern cli- 

 mates. The reason seems to be, that all fermen- 

 tation and decomposition are checked by cold ; and 

 at very low temperatures both animal and vegeta- 

 ble matters altonrether resist putrefaction : and in 

 the northern winter, not only vegetable life, but 

 likewise vegetable decay, must be at a stand. 



The anti-putrescent quality of cold climates is 

 fully illustrated in the instances of the rhinoceros 

 and mammoth, lately found in Siberia, entire be- 

 neath the frozen soil, in which they must probably 

 have existed from the time of the deluge. I ex- 

 amined a part of the skin of the mammoth sent to 

 this country, on which there was some coarse hair ; 

 it had all the chemical characters of recently dried 

 skin. 



Trees that grow in situations much exposed to 

 winds, have harder and firmer wood than such as 

 are considerably sheltered. The dense sap is de- 

 termined by the agitation of the smaller branches 

 to the trunk and larger branches, where the new 

 alburnum formed is consequently thick and firm. 

 Such trees abound in the crooked limbs fitted for 

 forming knee-timber, which is necessary fbrjoining 

 the decks and the sides of ships. The gales in 

 elevated situations gradually act so as to give the 

 tree the form best calculated to resist their effects. 

 And the mountain oak rises robust and sturdy ; 

 fixed firmly in the soil, and able to oppose the full 

 force of the tempest. 



The decay of the best varieties of fruit-bearing 

 trees which have been distributed through the 

 country by trrafts, is a circumstance of great im- 

 portance. There is no mode of preserving them; 

 and no resource, except that of raising new varie- 

 ties by seeds. 



Where a species has been ameliorated by cul- 

 ture, the seeds it affords, other circumstances being 

 similar, produce more vigorous and perfect plants ; 

 and in this way the great improvements in the 

 production of our fields and gardens seem to have 

 been occasioned. 



Wheat, in its indigenous state, as a natural pro- 

 duction of the soil, appears to have been a very 

 small irrass ; and the case is still more remarkable 

 with the apple and the plum. The crab seems to 

 have been the parent of all our apples. And two 

 fruits can scarcely be conceived more different, in 

 color, size, and appearance, than the wild plum 

 and the rich magnum bonum. 



The seeds of plants exalted by cultivation al- 

 ways furnish large and improved varieties; but 

 the flavor, and even the color of the fruit, seems 

 to be a matter ol' accident. Thus a hundred seeds 



