296 LIGHT REGULATES VEGETATION. 



grow altogether in the light, and it is not edible^ 

 neither will it make into starch. Its qualities ap- 

 proximate those of a leaf or a stone. Celery, and 

 the other plants which are generally made use of in 

 a blanched state, are unfit for being eaten if the light 

 has free access to them ; and generally where mere 

 nutriment is the object, it is best attained in the 

 shade. 



Forest trees of which the cotyledons rise above 

 the surface, and perform the functions of leaves, are 

 not so much deteriorated by the nursery mode of 

 sowing, as those of which the cotyledons remain 

 below, but still they are all injured less or more, so 

 that no planted tree forms timber equal in quality 

 to that of naturally sown timber. The planted pines 

 are a very striking instance of that ; for in those 

 districts where the natural pines afford very excel- 

 lent and durable timber, the planted ones, even when 

 the cones have been taken from the natural trees, 

 are spongy and soft; and the "hearty" wood of 

 them does not last much longer than the sapwood 

 of the natural trees. 



Want of the proper action of light at " starting" 

 is not the only injury which timber trees sustain, by 

 the way in which they are grown for the market. 

 They are sown so close, that while they remain in 

 the seed-beds they want both air and light. A seed- 

 bed of pines, in the early stage of their growth, 

 resembles a plat of moss more than any thing else ; 

 and when it is considered that, in the situation where 

 they are native, the pines stand singly and are ex- 

 posed on all sides to the action of very keen air, 

 it must easily be seen that they cannot acquire their 

 due strength when huddled together to the number 

 of many hundreds on a square foot. Those who 

 are familiar with pine forests, or pine plantations, 

 must be aware that the seeds of the cones never 

 germinate under the thick shade of the trees, and 

 grow up so as to form an underwood in the forest. 



