BOTANY. 



57 



le a native of Jamaica, had been long cultivated in the 

 W- English stoves, and propagated by means of cut- 

 tings ; but none of the plants ever displayed any signs 

 of fructification. They had been always well suppli- 

 ed \vilh water. One plant, by accident, was left 

 without being watered in the dry stove at Kew : the 

 cons* quence was, that the branches were much stunt- 

 ed in tlieir growth, and flowers were produced. 

 The experiment has been frequently repeated with 

 success. It appears, that whatever checks the luxu- 

 riance of the leaves, tends to the formation of flowers 

 and seeds, 



For the purpose of converting leaf-buds into flower- 

 buds, various expedients may be used with advan- 

 tage ; such as scoring the bark to the wood very 

 deeply with a knife, twisting a wire tightly round the 

 stem, or by cutting off a cylinder of the bark, and 

 replacing it with a bandage. 



It is said that there is an intermediate spcies 

 of bud, which retains some of the characters of each. 

 A striking difference has been noted between the 

 leaf and the flower-buds ; the first may be removed 

 with impunity from its original situation, and placed 

 in the earth, where it will vegetate with luxuriance ; 

 but the last uniformly dies. Both may be removed 

 to another stock with success. This operation is 

 called budding, or inoculation, and is well known to gar- 

 deners, i^ach bud maybe considered a distinct being, 

 containing parts precisely similarto those of the parent 

 tree, which, when favourably situated, will develope 

 themselves, and form a plant retainingallthe peculiari- 

 ties of the parent. If those qualities are such as will con 

 stitute a variety, they will also be perpetuated ; and of 

 this, we have many familiar examples in the various fruit 

 trees commonly cultivated in our gardens, on most of 

 which, budding is the only mean* of procuring good 

 fruit. The branch formed by the inoculated bud 

 alone yields proper fruit ; nor is the stock, on which 

 the budding has been performed, in the least degree al- 

 tered. The crab, on which the finest apple has been 

 budded, still remains a crab : thus proving, that it 

 Serves merely as a source from which the young bud 

 derives its nourishing matter ; although it is highly 

 probable, from the difference of the results, that that 

 matter undergoes some peculiar elaboration, after 

 leaving the vessels of the original stock. On this 

 principle, we have known five or six different species 

 of fruits budded on one tree, and which, in full fruit, 

 exhibited a singular and beautiful spectacle. It is 

 impossible to say how a bud torn from one tree, and 

 put in the place of another bud in another tree, should 

 become a perfect branch, producing flowers and fruit 

 in the highest perfection ; but attempts have been 

 made to trace the various steps of nature in effecting 

 her operations. Accordingly it is said, that after the 

 iresh bud has been inserted into the wound, formed by 

 the extraction of another bud, that t\it: Catnbium unites 

 the two parts, forms a connecting medium for the vessels 

 of the bud and the tree,and thus enables the vegetative 

 process to go on whenever nature requires it. Mr Knight 

 has noticed some facts worthy of record ; and he states, 

 that '< a hne of confused organisation marks the place 

 where the inserted bud first comes into contact with 

 the wood of the stock, between which line and the 



VOL. IV. PART I.. 



bark of the inserted bud, new wood, regularly or- Vegetable 

 ganised, is generated. This wood possesses all the ^ J '^fY 

 characteristics of that from which the bud is taken, " T ~ 

 without any apparent mixture with the character of 

 the stock in which it is inserted. The substance, 

 which is called the medullary process, is clearly seen 

 to spring from the bark, and to terminate at the line of 

 its first union with the stock." Mr Knight appears 

 to have satisfactorily established the position, that 

 each individual plant (for so it may be named,) pro- 

 duced by budding, has a determinate period of exist- 

 ence. This fact explains the hitherto inexplicable 

 circumstance, of the gradual wearing out of several 

 valuable varieties of apples and pears, which formerly 

 abounded in the different fruit counties of England. 

 Dr Smith mentions, that new varieties of Cape Gera- 

 niums raised from seed, in some of our green-houses, 

 " can be preserved, by cuttings, for a few successive 

 seasons only." Gardeners, too, kuow well, that 

 many of the most hardy perennial plants require to be 

 frequently removed from the seed, or the species 

 would become extinct. Seeds, therefore, are the on- 

 ly source from which permanent reproduction can be 

 obtained ; and the varieties that exist among seedling 

 plants have no reference whatever to the parent : it is 

 impossible to say whence they do derive their pecu- 

 liarities. 



The usual position of bads is in the aiillte of the Position* 

 leaves, except in the genera Mimosa, Glcditsia, and 

 a few others. The buds are opposite to each other 

 when the branches or leaves are opposite, alternate 

 when the latter are alternate, and terminal when the 

 leaves are terminal. In those plants that have both 

 opposite and alternate leaves or branches, the buds 

 are commonly solitary. 



Various forms are assumed by different buds, ac* External 

 cording to those of the contained leaves ; an ad- form . and 

 mirable adaptation of convenience to beauty and re. coverul g- 

 gularity being always preserved. Nature has given 

 different coverings to different vegetable productions, 

 according to the peculiarities of their respective cli- 

 mates. In northern regions, the buds are alc.ost uni- 

 formly clothed with scales,or with a downy substance ; 

 sometimes these are conjoined, besides being coated 

 with a resinoub matter. The horse chesnut is a good 

 illustration of large well-formed buds. By means of 

 these coverings, the young bud is enabled to brave 

 the vicissitudes of the seasons, and to be ready to 

 burst forth on the first approach of spring. This 

 singular power of retaining its vitality, has been con- 

 sidered by some physiologists as the distinctive cha- 

 racter of true buds. The most external of the scales 

 are dry and hard, while those which arc more pro- 

 tected from the influence of the weather, are soft and 

 succulent. The protection afforded to the bud, by 

 the resinous covering which occasionally envelopes it, 

 is well shewn by a very simple experiment. Take a 

 bud, for instance, of the horse chesnut, and close the 

 part which has been just separated from the stock 

 with wax, plunge it into water, and it will remain 

 there without undergoing any alteration for a num- 

 ber of years. 



In mild, or even warm countries, buds have no 

 scales, as they do not require them. Those trees 



