14 TIMEHRI. 
and more certain than if this is done regardless of the 
proper season. Many vegetables fail from inattention to 
this matter, and although we can hardly expeét to lay 
down such hard and fast rules as have been formulated 
in temperate climates, nevertheless almost anything 
would be better than the present want of system. 
Then there is pruning, the practice of which is perhaps 
more easily regulated than any other gardening opera- 
tion. The best time is naturally the transition period 
between the ripening of fruit and flowering. Our 
gardeners believe in the influence of the moon and 
probably do serious injury to vines and flowering plants 
from their ignorance of the conditions most favourable 
to this as well as other operations, which depend on the 
right appreciation of the seasons. 
There is a vast field for observation among the plants 
introduced from other countries. Do they flower and 
fruit at the same time as in their native habitats, or do 
they accommodate themselves to the seasons of Guiana ? 
Heredity has great influence and will probably be 
stronger than environment for along time, but ultimately 
we may expeét the plant to respond to its surrounding 
influences. A grape vine that has been introduced as a 
plant will not be so accommodating as one grown from 
seed in the colony; it will be better therefore to grow 
' seedlings, and, if possible, get them from acclimatised 
plants. To grow plants which require a long rest of 
four or five months will naturally be difficult. They 
cannot lie dormant while the conditions are favourable 
to growth, and as a natural consequence, get overworked 
and die. A dry season will have some slight influence 
in retarding growth but as it is attended by a high tem- 
