586 Lindley's Guide to the Orchard and Kitche7i-Garden. 



be emitted into the soil through the wound more readily 

 than if they had to pierce through the bark." 



Budding and Grafting. — "Budding differs from grafting 

 in this, that a portion of a stem is not made to strike root on 

 another stem ; but that, on the contrary, a bud deprived of 

 all trace of the woody part of a stem is introduced beneath 

 the bark of the stock, and there induced to strike root." In 

 performing either operation, the great point to be attended 

 to is, to secure " the exact contact of similar parts." The 

 editor presents numerous valuable remarks on these two pro- 

 cesses, but our limits forbid us quoting them. 



Transplanting. — The success of this important operation, the 

 writer conceives, may " be proved to depend exclusively upon 

 these two conditions: — 1. The preservation of the spongioles 

 of the roots ; and, 2. The prevention of excessive evaporation." 

 The spongioles are the extremities of the fibres, and con- 

 s_ist of " bundles of vessels surrounded by cellular tissue in 

 a very lax spongy state." Plants absorb all or nearly all of 

 their fluids through these spongioles, and, as the latter are 

 exceedingly delicate in their organisation, their destruction 

 will be effected in exact proportion to the violence or care- 

 lessness with which transplantation is performed. " It is 

 because of the security of the spongioles from injury when 

 the earth is undisturbed, that plants reared in pots are trans- 

 planted with so much more success than if taken immediately 

 from the soil" As every fibre is terminated by a spongiole, 

 cuttinor through the roots of large trees, to induce the form- 

 ation of fibres, the year previous to removmg them, contributes 

 to successful transplanting. " WTien destroyed, the spongioles 

 are often speedily replaced, particularly in orchard trees, pro- 

 vided a slight degree of growth continues to be maintained. 

 This is one of the reasons why trees removed in October 

 succeed better than if transplanted at any other time. The 

 growth of a tree at that season is not quite over ; and the 

 first impulse of nature, when the tree finds itself in a new 

 situation, is to create new mouths by which to feed when the 

 season for growing again returns." 



Evaporation. — The prodigious evaporation of plants is first 

 attested by quotations from Hales, Guettard, and Knight. 

 A plant of " sunflower perspires seventeen times more than a 

 man. . . . This loss has all to be supplied by the moisture in- 

 troduced into the system by the spongioles ; and hence, if the 

 sponf^ioles are destroyed, and evaporation takes place be- 

 fore they can be replaced, a plant must necessarily die." 

 From this principle arises the impracticability of transplanting 

 deciduous trees when in leaf. Hence, also, " certain ever- 



