136 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



farmer, who by this knows that if he would de- 

 stroy his tree by girdling, he must cut through 

 the alburnum to the hard wood, while if he mere- 

 ly girdles the outer bark of his vine with a narrow 

 ring after midsummer, when^the sap is descending, 

 he may much increase his crop of grapes by pre- 

 venting the descent of the sap, and retaining it 

 for the nourishment of the fruit, without any in- 

 jury to the vine, if the ring is not made too wide 

 to unite again. The two gentlemen named, with 

 a few others, Mirbel, Malpighi, Grew, Wildenow, 

 Hales, Priestly and others, by a series of interest- 

 ing experiments, have made us acquainted with 

 the structure and functions of the vegetable world. 



To Dr. Priestly we owe the knowledge of the 

 respiratory action of the leaves of plants. And 

 his opinion was, that the inspiration was by the 

 upper, and the expiration by the under surface of 

 the leaf. This fact is corroborated by the use of 

 the cabbage leaf in medical treatment ; the upper 

 and smooth side is always applied to the skin, 

 which "draws," as it is termed; while the under 

 side, if applied in the same manner, will have no 

 such effect. 



It is true a great deal remains for the research 

 of science to accomplish. "When we attempt," 

 says Dr. Smith, "to consider how the particular 

 secretions of different species and tribes of plants 

 are formed ; how the same soil, the same at- 

 mosphere, should in the leaf of the vine or sor- 

 rel, produce a wholesome acid, and in that of a 

 spurge or machineel a most virulent poison ; how 

 sweet and nutritous herbage should grow among 

 the acrid crowfoot and aconite, we find ourselves 

 totally unable to comprehend the existence of 

 such wonderful powers in so small and seemingly 

 simple an organ as the leaf of a plant." 



For the New England Farmer. 

 LUSUS NATURE. 



BY JACOB B. FARMER. 



Mr. Brown : — I have an apple tree that was 

 grafted about 8 years ago with Porter scions ; the 

 scions lived, grew, and bore handsomely-shaped, 

 and well-flavored Porter apples for 3 or 4 years ; 

 but last year the fruit changed its shape, (retaining 

 the Porter flavor, but the flesh a little more hard 

 and crispy) resuming the shape of the parent 

 stock, which was like a blue pearmain. The tree 

 grafted was a healthy, vigorous, and good bearing 

 tree. I wish to know if the change was a freak 

 of nature, or was it in accordance with nature's 

 laws. The above statement may seem strange, 

 but it is no more strange than true. If you or 

 some of your correspondents will give their views 

 on the subject, I think it may lead to some im- 

 portant facts, which, as yet, are not well under- 

 stood. Yours, &c, j. b. f. 



Concord, Jan. 27, 1852. 



Remarks. — We never have heard of a case of 

 this kind, before. Will some of the Pomologists 

 take it into consideration ? 



For the New England Farmei . 

 PEACH TREES AND SMOKY CHIM- 

 NEYS. 



BY STEPHEN ADAMS. 



Mr. Editor: — The above subjects have been 

 frequently discussed, and it seems to me without 

 any very satisfactory results. Peach trees still 

 die before old age comes on, and chimneys still 

 smoke, notwithstanding all the instruction that 

 can be found has been followed, which seems to 

 prove that there is much misapprehension upon 

 these subjects. Is it probable that the cold kills 

 the peach trees when the thermometer gets to 

 14° below zero 1 Why then is there any living 

 peach trees in the State of Maine 1 In this town 

 I believe the thermometer gets below 14° below 

 zero every year, and more than half the years to 

 18 or 20 and yet there are peach trees in this town 

 that have borne fruit for twenty years or more. 

 Is 20° any worse for a tree than 10° 1 Is there 

 any chemical or mechanical change produced up- 

 on ice by the temperature falling from 14 to 20 be- 

 low zero 1 Does the sudden change from 18° 

 below to 18° aboze zero (as occurred here to-day 

 from 8 A. M. to 12 at noon) produce any delete- 

 rious effects ? or even if it rose to 50 above, for 

 then there would be no more sap in the cells than 

 there was before it froze at all. It appears to me 

 that should an extreme cold night occur in the 

 fall before there had been much cool weather, the 

 freezing of the sap in the vessels while they are 

 full would burst them, even if they were iron ; 

 but we never find such an occurrence as this. 

 The wise Architect has so established his laws 

 that the sun recedes gradually, and cold weather 

 comes on gradually and deprives the trees of their 

 leaves and drives down a portion of the sap, so 

 that what remains is not sufficient to burst the 

 vessels by freezing ; and why should the thawing 

 burst them since it is well known that ice is 

 more bulky than the water of which it was made. 

 If freezing and thawing does the mischief we shall 

 be sure to suffer spring and fall, for there is al- 

 ways much freezing and thawing at both those 

 seasons. 



It seems to me most probable that the mischief 

 is done by heavy winds when the wood is frozen ; 

 wood in this State is very brittle ; it will not 

 bend much without cracking ; the peach tree 

 sends out long and slender shoots, which are much 

 more affected by the wind than other trees whose 

 limbs are shorter in proportion to their size. I 

 set some peach trees several years ago the north 

 side of my house — they died half way to the 

 ground every winter, and finally died root and 

 branch about five years ago. I set some the south 

 side of my house, which have flourished well so 

 far ; these are well secluded from the winds, 

 while those on the north were exposed to winds 

 which most prevail here in cold weather. With 

 regard to smoky chimneys, I think there would 

 not be so much complaint if builders would attend 

 to the brick-laying so as to be sure that the walls 

 of the chimney, and the partition, between the 

 flues, should be perfectly air-tight. When my 

 chimneys were built I requested the masons to be 

 very particular to fill all the joints. Most of the 

 surface is plastered, and they draw first rate. 



Yours, respectfully, s. a. 



West Newfield, Me., Jan. 16, 1852. 



