January 31, 1865. ] 



JOTTRNAL OP HORTICULTURE AITO COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



83 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Day 



of 



M'nth 



Day 



of 



Week. 



To 

 W 

 Th 



F 



S 

 Sus 

 M 



JAN. 31— FEB. G, 18G5. 



Hilary Term ends. 



Harestftil Rush flowers. 



Candlkm.^s D.\.t. 



Spurire T.aurel flowers. 



Klder (oliato. 



5 Sdnd,\y after Epiphany. 



Dr. Priestley died, 1804, aged 61. 



Average Temperature 



Rain In 



last 

 38 years. 



Sun 



Sun 



near London. 



Rises. 



Sets. 









Day. 



NiRht. 



Mean. 



Days. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



44.4 



30.5 



37.4 



17 



42 af 7 



45af4 



43.3 



31.0 



37.2 



12 



41 7 



47 4 



43.7 



01.0 



37.4 



13 



39 7 



49 4 



44,3 



30.9 



37.6 



17 



38 7 



51 4 



44.8 



33.2 



39.0 



18 



36 7 



53 4 



45.8 



33.7 



39.8 



17 



34 7 



54 4 



4C.3 



32.7 



39.5 



19 



33 7 



56 4 



Moon 

 Kises. 



Moon 

 Sets. 



17 10 

 63 10 

 35 11 

 after. 

 15 1 



m. h. 



42 10 



58 11 

 morn. 



13 1 



22 2 



24 3 



18 4 



Moon's 

 Age. 



9 

 10 



Clock I T^ f 



Son. 1 ^''"■ 



ra. 8. 



13 48 



13 56 



14 3 

 14 9 

 14 15 

 14 20 

 14 24 



31 

 32 

 33 



34 

 35 

 66 

 37 



From observations taken near London during the last thirty-eight yeai's, the average day temperature of the week is 44.9°, and its night 

 temperature 31.9'. The greatest heat was 57° on the 3rd, 1S50; and the lowest cold, 8°, on. the 31st, 1857. The greatest fall of rain was 

 0.75 inch. 



THE MODERN PEACH-PEUNEE. 

 No. 2. 



THEOUT OF VEGETATION. 



ITHOUT having tlie 

 pretension to enter very 

 largely into tlie difficult 

 subject of vegetable physiology, and 

 wishing at the same time not to ex- 

 ceed the limits originally proposed 

 for my notes, it wUl, nevertheless, be proper to 

 devote two or three chapters to an examination 

 of the principles which regulate vegetation. 

 In this case theory must necessarily precede and govern 

 practice, nor is it prudent for the horticulturist at any 

 time to separate them. 



It is not always at first setting out that the amateur, 

 eager as he may be for information, is in a position to 

 profit by the numerous works on the principles of vege- 

 tation. From many causes he generally reverses the 

 natural order of things, and begins by experiments based 

 on the teaching of unlearned and often deeply prejudiced 

 men. The consequence is, that after a series of years 

 passed in alternate success and failure, he finds himself 

 compelled to return to first principles, and to make an 

 attempt, often futile, to unlearn nearly all he formerly 

 knew ; and this often occurs when his practical manipu- 

 lation had attained a pitch which, had it been regulated 

 by a sound acquaintance with the laws of vegetation, 

 would have placed him in the highest rant. It is ob- 

 vious, then, that a treatise on Peach pruning, such as 

 this one, must commence at the beginning. It shall be 

 the especial object of the writer to make this portion of 

 the subject as brief and as simple in detail as possible, 

 while nothing that is important to the amateur will be 

 omitted. 



Commencing by an analysis of the organs of plants we 

 find that in general what are designated as the elemen- 

 tary organs, or the primitive formations of matter, are 

 known as cellular and vascular tissues. The cellular 

 tissue appears first, and is composed of small cells, while 

 vascular tissue is composed of tubes, pierced with lateral 

 openings, and enclosing the original cellular tissue be- 

 tween them. Cellular tissue forms the softer portions 

 of plants, and vascular the harder portions. 



Boots are composed of the neck or collar, of the tap- 

 root from which the roots ramify, and of fibrous rootlets, 

 at the extremities of which are the spongioles, which 

 from the soil absorb the nourishment of the tree. The 

 spongioles, as seen under a microscope, are composed of 

 cellular tissue, and are of the greatest importance to the 

 life of the tree. 



_ The trunk of the tree is composed of the pith, the 

 ligneous body, and the bark. The pith is formed of 

 cellular tissue bound together by the tubes of the 

 vascular tissue. In this position these tubes act as 

 vessels of the medullary canal. Prom the natural de- 

 viation of these vessels arise the leaves and the buds, 

 No. 201.-VOI.. VIII, New Sibibs. 



and after these the green or growing shoot. The ligneous 

 body lies between the pith and the bark. If we cut 

 through the trunk transversely, the ligneous body is seen 

 in the form of concentric layers, each the growth of one 

 year. Between these layers are the medullary rays which 

 connect the medullary canal with the circumference. If, 

 however, the trunk be cut through vertically, the ligneous 

 fibres of the layers are seen to be formed by the union 

 of vessels derived from the base of the leaves, and reach- 

 ing downwards to the spongioles. The Hgneous fibres, 

 produced by the upper leaves, lie over those produced 

 by the lower leaves. Thus the exterior layers are the 

 latest deposited and the j'oungest. 



The ligneous body itself is composed of hard wood or 

 heart, and of alburnum or soft wood. The heart, formed 

 of the innermost layers, is composed of tissue, which 

 material deposits have completely filled up. The albur- 

 num, or recently-formed ligneous substance, is situated 

 between the heart and the bark of the tree. The outer 

 layers contain the sap-vessels, which perform their im- 

 portant functions in proportion to their formation. 



The bark comprehends the liber and the cortical layers. 

 The liber is the interior portion of the bark, and covers 

 the alburnum. The liber is the seat of vitality in the 

 tree. It is composed, therefore, of a certain number of 

 thin layers of vessels having their origin at the base of 

 a leaf, and their extremity at the spongioles. While, 

 however, in the ligneous body the exterior layers are the 

 latest produced, in the liber, on the contrary, the newest 

 are the innermost ones. The cortical layers are those 

 formed by the oldest ones of the liber. In young sub- 

 jects the hber is covered with thin tissues caUed re- 

 spectively inner and outer epidermis. 



The bud, situated at the axil of the leaves, is the rudi- 

 ment of the young shoot. It is formed by a deviation of 

 the vessels of the medullary canal. 



Leaves are composed of footstalks and the blade or 

 body of the leaf. The footstalk of the leaf is formed by 

 the vessels of the medullary canal. These vessels ramify 

 in the tissue, and form the channels of the sap. The 

 body of the leaf is formed of cellular tissue covered with 

 a thin skin or epidermis, which is pierced with innume- 

 rable apertures called stomata. In fact these stomata or 

 mouths are to be found on all growdng portions of vege- 

 tables, not only on the leaves, as before stated, but also 

 on the shoots themselves, and on the fruit. Their func- 

 tions are very important in vegetable life, as wUl be 

 explained presently. ■ 



Flowers are composed of floral envelopes and of sexual 

 organs. The floral envelopes are the calyx and the co^ 

 rolla. The divisions of the calyx are known as sepals, 

 and those of the coroUa as petals. The sexual organs 

 are the stamens and the pistil. The stamens are the 

 male organs of plants. The anther at the extremity of 

 the stamen contains the pollen or fertilising dust. The 

 pistil is the female organ of plants, the extremity of 

 which is called the stigma, and the base the ovary, while 

 the intermediate space is called the style. 



The fruit is composed of the pericarp, a fleshy sub- 

 No. 853.— Vol. XXXIII., Old Sesies. 



