BY SUBDIVISION. 197 



the purpose of retaining the cambium : in the isles of 

 France and of Bourbon it is usual to carbonise the ends 

 of slips, in order to prevent its escape. 



When you propagate by slips of roots, you must plant 

 them near the surface, in order to facilitate the sprouting 

 of stems. Jessamine, strawberries, and, probably, mush- 

 rooms, are propagated in this manner. 



Emily. I thought that mushrooms were propagated 

 by a species of seed called the spawn. 



Mrs. B. The white filaments, vulgarly called the 

 spawn of mushrooms, are in fact the fibres of its roots ; 

 these are cut in pieces and sown ; or rather, I should 

 say, planted in a hotbed. 



Caroline. In planting potatoes, it is not requisite to 

 leave a spot, called an eye, in each piece ? It is from 

 these, I understand, that both stems and branches sprout. 



Mrs. B. These eyes are the germs of embryo stems 

 and roots. The potatoe is nothing more than a tubercle 

 formed by an accumulation of cambium in the subterra- 

 neous branches of the plant, and destined to nourish the 

 buds which are to be developed the following season. 

 This storehouse of food offers such facility to germination, 

 that when potatoes are heaped in a cellar, of a moderate 

 degree of temperature and moisture, the germs absorb 

 nourishment from the farina of the potatoe and sprout, 

 either roots or stems, according as their situation favors 

 the developement of the one or the other of these germs. 



Caroline. In what an enviable situation these germs are 

 placed ! enclosed in a magazine of food breathing as it 

 vere, an atmosphere of nourishment, and inhaling it at 

 every pore. 



Emily. Not more so than the germ of a bird, which 

 subsists on the yolk and albumen of the egg until its frame 

 is fully developed. 



Caroline. True ; it is singular what analogy there is 

 between the different productions of Nature, and what a 

 fund of knowledge may be derived from them ! 



Mrs. B. A fund equally inexhaustible and admirable ! 



1081. How should the slips of succulent plants be prepared how are 

 they in the isles of France and Bourbon 1 ? 1082. How are slips of 

 roots planted what ones are named 7 1083. What are the spawns 

 of mushrooms'! 1084. What is the potatoe said to be! 1085. 

 What is said of the facility with which they germinate! 1086. What 

 is the germ of a bird! 1087 What are the works of creation to be 

 considered! 



