Transactions oftlie London Horticultural Society. 503 



" The power which the leaves possess of absorbing moisture, in a clamp 

 atmosphere, is immense, and very curious : a person unacquainted with it 

 would not believe, on seeing a leaf in its driest state, that it could ever be 

 brought back so as to be again pliable. 



" The number of leaves that each plant ought to be allowed to produce 

 should be determined by the quality of the ground, the earliness or lateness of 

 the season, &c. : when these combine to the advantage of the plants, they are 

 able to perfect proportionally more leaves. By a timely and careful atten- 

 tion to such circumstances, and by pinching off the lateral shoots, the climate 

 of England, or that of Ireland, is in every respect sufficient to the full per- 

 fection of tobacco. Four months are not fully required to bring it to 

 maturity. 



" In the case of large plantations being made, shading would be attended 

 with considerable expense : it is not, however, of absolute necessity ; for, 

 when tobacco plants are pricked out some time previous to planting, they 

 make good roots, which are of greater benefit to them, after they are planted, 

 than shading is. The latter, however, is practised in England and Ireland, 

 and is certainly useful ; but it is by no means an essentially necessary part of 

 the management of tobacco. The leaves flag under a hot sun ; but, if the 

 ground is moist, quickly recover. When the danger of late frosts is over, it 

 would seem best to commence planting; if, however, from apprehensions of 

 any description, the tobacco is not got out till the latter end of May (and it 

 need never be so late), even at that time there could be no danger of its 

 ripening. Planting, in Ireland, is [was] continued considerably later than this. 



" The mode of curing thus described, or one very similar to it, would seem 

 to remedy the defects complained of in Ireland ; namely, the great waste of 

 the article by repeated fermentations. To this mode no such objection can 

 be found j and, if adopted in Ireland, it would be incomparably less labour 

 and expense, than the present mode of management in that country. 



" The Irish planter would, however, require a firing-house in addition to 

 the barn or shed spoken of by Mr. Brodigan. It could be of any dimensions. 

 A short wide firing-house would be best adapted for the purpose, with a flue 

 running along the centre. A very small house would cure an amazing quan- 

 tity of plants ; for, when they are taken up, their leaves begin to fall almost 

 immediately, and lie upon the stalks; and, when they get to the brown colour, 

 do not occupy much more room than the stalk itself. The plants could 

 first be hung in the open shed, where rain and sun ought to be kept off; in 

 this shed the leaves would come to the yellow state before mentioned, when 

 they might be removed to the firing-house." (p. 213.) 



32. Upon grafting the Walnut Tree. By T. A. Knight, Esq., F.R.S. 



Pies. U.S. &c. 



Young or last year's wood is employed both as the scion and 

 as the stock ; and both scion and stock are allowed to unfold their 

 buds, and grow for a week or ten days, before the operation of 

 grafting is performed. Previously to doing this, the young 

 shoots and foliage are rubbed off. Out of twenty-eight instances, 

 twenty-two grew well, many producing shoots of nearly a yard 

 long, and of very great strength. " The scions were attached 

 to the young (annual) wood of stocks, which were between 5 ft. 

 and 8 ft. high ; and in all cases they were placed to stand astride 

 the stocks, one division of the scion being in some instances in- 

 troduced between the bark and the wood ; and both divisions 

 being, in others, fitted to the wood or bark in the ordinary way. 

 Both modes of operating were equally successful. In each of 



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