PablUktd b,j John -B. Uusseli,, ai .V«. 52 Morih Markti Sire. 



VOL. YIII. 



tl, (at the Jlirricullural Harchouse) Thomas G. 1' 



ESBENDEK, Editor. 



ORIGINAL COMMUMCATIONS, 



The following article, wliicii will be rompljtca in 

 about three papers, is furnished by an esteemed corres-, 

 pendent in Bristol county, and is intended to excite the 

 attention of farmers to an acquaintanre with the subject 

 of vegetation and its results. To make it attractive, the 

 writer has endeavored to render it concise and C3.-np.e- 

 hensive,and as free from technical terms as possiMe 



A SKETCH OF VEGETABLE ANATOMY 

 VEGETABLE ECONOMY, &c. 



As the limits, whicli eire a.ssi;,'iie(l us, ure not 

 liroad, wu shall take only a genural view, cori- 

 den.se, ami attempt to render the siihject familiar 

 and iiiteiestin:,' tu the youn-; cultivator, and In- 

 duce him to heconie further acquainted with the i 

 science. Without further remark we hegin vvith j 

 the part, which first presents itself to view, the I 



ExTER.NAL CovF.Ki.NG. — ]. Epidermis. Tiie ' 

 cuticle is the outer bark, and is a dead substance. 

 It covers every part of the plant, and has differ- 

 ent api)earances. Upon the leaves and youn" 

 jilants it is commonly smooth and transpartnt 

 sometimes hairy or downy. Upon old Itee.* it is 

 thick and hard, sometimes scaling- off. Itisiiiem- 

 branous and porus, and admits of ahsoritiun and 

 perspiration. Its use is to defend the i.iore im- 

 portant parts from the injurious effects of the at- 

 mosphere, and other injuries. 



2. Cellular integument. Directly undi, le 

 cuticle is a pulpy substance, called the cellular in- 

 tegument. It is generally green in the stems and 

 leaves, but its color depends on the action of 

 light. 



3. Cortex. Under the cellular integument is 

 the outer surface of the true bark, which in plants 

 and branches that are only one year old, consists 

 of one single layer. In stems and branches of 

 trees it consists of as many layers as they are 

 years old, one layer being added every year. The 

 inmo.st layer is called lUe liber, in which the vital 

 functions are carried on, and at the sarne time a 

 new liber is formed on the iusiile next to the wood, 

 destined to perform the vital functions for the next 

 year, when its predecessor will be united and as- 

 similated to the layers of former years. The liber 

 deposits a matter for the formution of a new layer 

 of wood every year. The strength oftlie bark is ow- 

 ing to its woody fibres, mostly longitudinal, though 

 connected literally in such a manner, as to form a 

 kind of net-work. The bark is vascular, the prin- 

 cipal vessels are longitudinal. The bark of trees 

 contains in proper vessels secreted fluids, many of I 

 which are medicinal. A wouml made in the 

 bark, heals by the lateral extension of the portion 

 which is left. 



Wood. Immediately under the bark is the 

 wood, which consists oi' numerous layeis, one be- 

 ing added every year. Each layer consists of 

 woody fibres, and is perforated by longitudinal 

 sap-vessels, differently constructed in difTerent 

 trees, and intermixed with other vessels contain- 

 ing secreted fluids or air. Some of the outermost 

 layers, in many trees, continue for some time of 

 a lighter color and softer texture than the irmer 

 ones, aud are called the sap-wood, alburnum, 



BOSTON, FillDAY, MAY U, 1830. 



No. 43. 



letcHlV^:i^;■''''"""'^• ■?■'';'■'">' "■"'■M' '■ <^'-"""'''^''- Agrantdatedrootisa cluster 



T^ h virinv ^; r T S ""="7-^t/'-''".ties. rives. They are formed in the course of the sum- 

 to d r;: ; a .L 1^^^^^^^ the ...er,nnd are comn.only guarded by scales, fur- 

 hence a 1^, ""tfio'"tlfe .ootupwards: nished with gum or soft suhslqnce, as additional 

 !' L ■ ^ r 7"l\ *"•'"■'"' """ " '''"'^ •"■"''"- •"•"'e-^-'- I'ntil they begin to vegetate tlev e 



which it was taken 

 I I'lTH. In the centre of the wood is the pith 

 j medulla, a spongy subsiance, juicy in young plants,' 

 j extending from the roots to the e\;tremiti,^s. In 

 I older plants it becomes dry and in very old trees 



■bhlcrated. In some plants it is hollow merely 



Innng the stem. Its use is unknown. 



Koors. The root, radix, is the first thing pro- 

 duced by the germinating embryo, and serves to 

 fix and hold plants and trees in the earth from 

 which they draw nourishment through their or^-i- 

 nizcd tubes. ° 



Roots are either annual, biennial, or perennial. 

 Annual roots live only ons season and die, as the 

 ";it. Biennial roots survive one winter, and per- 

 ish the nex* season after they have perfected their 

 seed, like the carrot. If any circumstance should 

 prevent their flowering the second year, they may 

 survive until that event lakes place. Perennial 

 roots live.and produce flowers for an indefinite nnm- 



made an effort to developc themselves, they are 

 hijured by it, and fretiuently the embryo fruit de- 

 stroyed. The buds of trees, as well as the buds 

 in bulbous roots contain in miniature, all that is 

 necessary to constitute a perfect jdant. Some 

 plants which produce seed, produce bulbous buds 

 on the stem, by which the species may be multi- 

 plied, as in the llliiim bulbiferuiii. 



Buds are different in structure, but nnifortn in 

 the same species. The manner in which leaves, 

 in miniature, are folded up in them, is various in 

 diftereiU species of plants. A leaf bud contains 

 the rudiments of leaves only. A flower bud con- 

 tains the rudiments of one or more flowers, and is 

 thicker and less pointed than a leaf bud. Some 

 buds contain the rudiments of both leaves and 

 flowfj"3 ' 



r?rBMs»iND SiTALKS. I'heie arc several k'juls 

 of stems or stalks of plants ; as 



I. Caulit, a stem which bears both leaves and 



her of veir^i as in f.-p„ . I i i • ....l^. „„„i- j. »..«)«?,?, a stem which bears both eaves and 



Hon vvi^ ' "'''"""^'''^'■''"'-■'^"''■^h"""^ ' '-'^ "'<= funks and branches oftre^s an 



lants whose stems are annual. The body of shrubs, and also of many herbaceous ..lants Bv 



radicule or fibre. The latter, especially the ex- 

 treme parts, is annual, designed only to absorb 

 itie nutritious juices of the soil for the season 

 There are different kinds of roots, which difler in 

 their nature and fiinctions; as 



1. /'Woscr, a fibrous root, consists entirelv of 

 fibres, as in many grasses and some 4)erbac"eous 

 plants. The fibres cany the juices, which they 

 absorb, directly to the base of the stem or leaves. 



2. Repens. A creei-ing root— sj.reads hori- 

 zontally in the ground, throwing out its fibres as 

 it extends itself, as in mint. 



3. /'««i/braw,— spindle-shaped root, which is 

 common in biennial plants, as the carrot, though 

 not confined to them. These roots produce nu- 

 merous fibres for the absori-tion of nourish- 

 ment. 



the surface of the earth. As it advances, it is 

 either able to support itself, or twines round, or 

 adheres to other bodies. Some stems creep on 

 the ground and throw out roots as they ad- 

 vance. The stem is either simple, as in the lily, 

 or branched, as in most plants. Stems are com- 

 monly leafy or scaly— sometimes naked as in the 

 creeping cereus. Climbing stems are of several 

 kinds ; as radicans, clinging to any other body for 

 support by means of certain fibres, which do not 

 absorb nourishment, as in the bignonia radicans ; 

 scandtns, cliinbing by means of spiral tendrils, as 

 in the grape ; volubilis, twining round anything 

 that comes in its way, by its own spiral form, 

 either from east to west, like the honey-suckle, or 

 from west te east like the convolvulus ; nor can 

 art or force make the twisting stem turn contra- 



4 Prmmorsa Abnir.r^. , i ""^ "' ""-^e maKe the twisting stem turn contra 



n» • •, , 7i , ' stumped— appears ry to its natural direction. The manner of irrowth 



|.s^,f It had been abruptly severed, as in the angel- and branching stems are very various' some Ire 



c TT I , • '^"'''Sh') Others are irregular, spreadinn- or zi"7ao-- 



tube'rs ^''^;r;';?;''"•^"-'•--^ -•--'« of fleshy either alternately b,-a;iclied,'or oppos ,e^;= »; 



Son V & The.'nTT \ ' " "V':-'' potato, whorled at certain distances, as in the whiteVine 



pseony, ^,,. The potato ,s biennial, formed in Some trees have a peculiar mode of growth the 



he n"xrfr;.r th"l» ". 'rT'"" T' "'""^ '" '^^^"'^"^'^ '^''"'^ ^^^nl.uu, in flowers, J do ' new 



surfrce '•'« ''"J^ ^'"-'' "e placed on its shoots just below the flowering part, as in the ve 



fi r„;a„o„ a I 11 ■ . "'^""" s""'ach. The shape of the stem is either 



6 BMosa A bulbous root .s either solid as round, or with 3, 4, or more angles, or 2 ed^d as 



le !v ' IZ:; "■ '" ''''TT ' "' ''"''■' '^ '" "^'^ ^-^^^^^^nl P^a. Square" stJms common?y 



erba.eln'.fif ! ""^ flowering, their bear opposite leaves. The angles of some stems 



herbage and fibrous roots decay, at which time the I are extended in kafy borders, as in the thistle 



