294 THE ROT IS IN 



to the light ; but in the case of timber there is a gain 

 in consolidation, and that is the main point. 



The way in which the parts of the oak " come" 

 farther shows the importance of light to it at the 

 very instant the plumule begins to move. By that 

 time the root has penetrated to a considerable depth, 

 and is furnished with absorbent rootlets. The nour- 

 ishment which these procure cannot be acted on 

 by the light in them, and the plumule, being just 

 beginning to move, has no leaves, so that if the 

 cotyledons are buried in the earth, the oak must 

 begin life with all the weakness of an etiolated plant ; 

 and if it begins without the carbon and astringency 

 that are necessary for good oak timber, the timber 

 of it must be bad, how long soever it may stand, or 

 what size soever it may attain. Future treatment 

 may make it grow faster or slower ; but no future 

 treatment can change the character with which it 

 starts. If it starts good timber, it may be stunted 

 or deformed, but it will be durable ; and if it starts 

 bad timber, it may be showy, but it can never be 

 good. 



Too rich and stimulating a soil may also injure 

 the timber, even though the acorn, ruptured as it is, 

 be exposed to the light ; and if the acorn is buried, 

 and the soil too rich at the same time, they will 

 jointly injure the quality of the tree. 



Cultivators sometimes forget (and it is often an 

 unfortunate forgetfulness) that the healthy condition 

 of a plant does not depend on the soil, the moisture, 

 or the heat ; that it does not depend upon all three 

 jointly, or on the proportions that they bear to each 

 other. To that part of the plant which naturally 

 lives in the air there must be light ; and although 

 their artificial heat without light may do for those 

 roots that are naturally under ground, it is extremely 

 doubtful whether any substitute can be found for 

 the beams of the sun. So, if there is artificial heat 

 applied to the leaves, its action will be imperfect, 



