314} THE ROT IS IN 



the action of light. The condition of all blanched 

 and etiolated plants, compared with that of the 

 very same species freely exposed to the air, clearly 

 shows that carbon and astringency, the very things 

 in which the perishable oak timber is deficient, 

 are among the principal results of the operation 

 of light. These additions appear to hinder rather 

 than forward mere growth at the time, for an 

 etiolated potato will rise thirty feet in the dark, 

 whereas it would not rise as many inches if ex- 

 posed to the light; but in the case of timber, 

 there is a gain in consolidation, and that is the 

 main point. 



The way in which the parts of the oak " come," 

 farther show the importance of light to it at the 

 very instant the plumule begins to move. By 

 that time the root has penetrated to a considerable 

 depth, and is furnished with absorbent rootlets. 

 The nourishment which these procure cannot be 

 acted on by the light in them, and the plumule, 

 being just beginning to move, has no leaves, so 

 that, if the cotyledons are buried in the earth, 

 the oak must begin life with all the weakness of 

 an etiolated plant ; and if it begins without the 

 carbon and astringency that are necessary for 

 good oak timber, the timber of it must be bad, 

 how long soever it may stand, or what size so- 

 ever it may attain. Future treatment may make 

 it grow faster or slower ; but no future treatment 

 can change the character with which it starts. 

 If it starts good timber, it may be stunted or de- 

 forme'd, but it will be durable ; and if it starts bad 

 timber, it may be showy, but it can never be good. 



Too rich and stimulating a soil may also injure 

 the timber, even though the acorn, ruptured as it 

 is, be exposed to the light ; and if the acorn is 



