Queries and Answers. 295 



is dry j but when closed, and the ice is in it (for the space of time before it 

 melts), a vapour rises, which drops from the roof. I shall feel greatly obliged 

 to any of your correspondents who can give me an explanation of the causes 

 of this great disappointment. — D. B. April 20. 1834. 



Our correspondent will find an excellent plan for an ice-house, VII. 650., 

 and some remarks on the mode of filling in the ice, &c, in Vol. III. He will 

 also find excellent plans for ice-houses, and copious remarks on the subject, 

 in our Encyclojjcsdia of Architecture, § 737. — Cond. 



Griffin's First Lines of Chemistry. — Ephebicus Horticultor, in a late com- 

 munication, has recommended to the attention of the young gardener Griffin's 

 First Lines of Chemistry. Having, after much trouble, failed to procure a 

 copy of the work, it will much oblige me, as well as several other gardeners, 

 to know where it can be procured ? In a small space it contains a great 

 quantity of useful matter; and, as its cheapness puts it within the reach of 

 every gardener, I cannot but regret that, in this age of bookmaking, such an 

 interesting volume should be allowed to get out of print. — Scientice et Justi- 

 fies Aviator. Feb. 1834. 



Sowerby's English Botany. — Why is this most excellent work not published 

 oftener ? Why are such works as are published on the .Musci, the A'lgie, 

 and the .Fungi, put forth in such a shape as to be accessible only to the 

 wealthy, and not, like Mr. Sowerby's Botany, to be obtainable by all ? When 

 will the mass of the people be supplied with cheap scientific as well as cheap 

 literary food ? I am five and thirty, and, really, I am alarmed at the prospect 

 of waiting five or six years till the English Botany is finished. I, really, am 

 starving for want of that mental food, which my want of wealth will not enable 

 me to procure ; and must I famish ? Surely the public will take four Numbers 

 a month of the English Botany. — X. Y. Z. March 19. 1834. 



Mr. Sowerby informs us that he intends, very shortly, to bring out the 

 English Botany weekly, which, we have no doubt, will be highly acceptable 

 news to many others, as well as our correspondent. — Cond. 



Absorption of Sap by the Roots of Plants. — I have never been able to satisfy 

 myself on this subject. The material from which the sap or blood of plants 

 is prepared by the leaves, is said to be absorbed from the soil by the spongioles 

 or parents of the fibres onty. From this I should conclude that the plant 

 which had the most fibrous roots would grow the most luxuriantly. Now, I 

 have always found the very reverse of this to be the case. According to my 

 observation and experience, plants having the largest and strongest roots, 

 though few in number, and without many fibres, always make the strongest 

 shoots. This induces me to conclude that nutriment is absorbed by the 

 whole of the surface of large roots, as well as by the spongioles on the points 

 of fibrous roots. I once took up two vines, in order to bring their roots 

 nearer to the surface : I was careful to preserve them entire throughout their 

 whole length, though I could not avoid breaking off the whole of the fibres. 

 The growth of these vines the next season was as strong as if they had never 

 been moved. Now, I should wish to know how this is to be accounted for, 

 unless on the supposition that the branchy parts of roots absorb nutriment s as 

 well as the fibres ? How does a cutting imbibe its support ? Is it through the 

 bark, or through the end where it was amputated ? I should say, if I adopted 

 the spongiole system, through the lower end. If so, when a root was cut, it 

 would take in sap faster than when it depended on the spongioles: but this 

 would be absurd in theory, and contrary to fact. — J. D. P. Kent, Jan. 1834. 



The Wireworm. — White mustard seed, sown with wheat or other corn, is 

 said {Brit. Farm. Mag., vol. v. p. 532.) to protect grain from the wireworm. 

 Has it been ascertained, experimentally, that the wireworm will attack the 

 young plants of mustard in preference to the plants of wheat, or how is the 

 fact, if it be one, explained ? — A Constant Reader. March, 1834. 



Planting Oaks a Year or Two before the Trees intended to nurse them. — 

 The oak is notoriously a slow-growing tree, at least as compared with many 

 others. Accordingly', when trees of this species are planted as principals, 



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