March 13, 1889.] 



Garden and Forest. 



129 



unknown. It is enough to say that the division of tlie nu- 

 cleus accompanies tlie multiplication of cells. Just here it is 

 well to glance at the wonderful character of a process by 

 which these nuclei give rise to new nuclei and their en- 

 closing cells, and the latter in their turn give rise to others, 

 and so on, the new ones assuming shapes unlike the earlier 

 ones as the growth proceeds. The cells of the Maple pro- 

 duce in their multiplication the leaves, branches, flowers and 

 fruit of the Maple, each new organ appearing at its proper 

 time and place, while the similar cells of the Oak give us all 

 the organs of the Oak. Yet between the early cells of the two, 

 it would be hard to find any differences by which they might 

 be distinguished. The cells of the one have inherited from 

 their ancestry one set of characters, namely, those of the Ma- 

 ple, while those of the other have come down to us from an 

 ancestry of Oaks. 



Formation of Tissues. — The cells constitute tissues, or co- 

 herent clusters of cells more or less modified, and the coherent 

 tissues make up, of course, the masses which we recognize 

 as the organs of the plant. In their young state the cells which 

 constitute these tissues may appear to be almost indistinguish- 

 able from each other in form and other characters, and the tis- 

 sues may very closely resemble each other. As the tissues be- 

 come older, the newly-formed cells increase in size, and the 

 nature of the constituent walls- may become modified. But 

 these new cells of the tissues do not all change in the same way. 

 Those of the interior of a stem in its youngest state are more or 

 less compressed or hemmed in by the cells outside of them, 

 and thus arise what are called tensions: the outer portions of a 

 group pressing more or less on the parts within. Now, since 

 all of these tissues are more or less yielding, it is plain that 

 any force exerted on one side of a very young organ would 

 change its tension, and there would be a resultant change of 

 form. Such changes of form do take place, not only from 

 external influences, but by internal forces and the resultant 

 changes of form may go on with a good degree of rapidity. 

 The various movements of plants are to be referred to this 

 cause. The external influences exerted by the force of gravity, 

 by light, by heat, by excess of moisture, or by shock, all result 

 in changes of form of the tissues and the organs which they 

 compose. Exactly what is the cause of the fluctuations in the 

 internal forces is as yet unknown, although in many cases 

 there is plainly a direct relation between changes in the 

 osmotic force and the changes in form. 



Movements. — It may be said, in concluding this brief refer- 

 ence to the growth of tissues, that all young parts of all plants 

 are capable of spontaneous movement. In a few cases, notably 

 those of the twiners, like the Morning Glory and the Hop, the 

 movement can continue even after the parts have grown some- 

 what older, and in many instances there are movements, attrib- 

 utable to difterences in the tension of tissues, which are dis- 

 tinctly associated with the relations of leaves and the parts of 

 flowers to light, moisture, and heat. * 



Respiration. — The chemical phenomena which accompany 

 the growth of tissues can be passed over very lightly. There 

 is, of course, an expenditure of building material and a sHght 

 consumption of oxidizable matter by which latter is procured 

 the force requisite to put the. former in its place. The con- 

 sumption of this oxidizable matter (sugar or its equivalent) is 

 practically a process of oxidation, and consequently there is a 

 production and elimination of the two products — namely, 

 carbon dioxide and water. 



In all growfli there is more or less heat evolved. This 

 physical phenomenon can best be studied in such cases as the 

 so-called Calla Lily, in the scroll of which, during the maturing 

 of the flowers, there is an appreciable elevation of temperature. 



This series of processes during the various phases of growth 

 constitutes, when taken together with the oxidations necessary 

 for other activities in the plant, what is called the respiration. 

 Carbon dioxide is given off, but the amount exhaled from a 

 plant even during its period of most rapid growth is very 

 small indeed, and, so far as hygiene is concerned it may be 

 disregarded in the air of our houses. There are, however, 

 processes of oxidation which sometimes occur in the rich soil 

 in which house-plants are grown which render it doubtful 

 whether it is not better to exclude such flower-pots froni the 

 sick-room. Furthermore, when a plant is in full flower the 

 amount of carbon dioxide given oft' is larger than at other 

 times, and there are odors evolved by flowers which may 

 prove annoying to the sick. But on the air of the rooms in 

 which healthy people are living the respiration of plants can- 

 not exert any deleterious influence.! 



Cambridg e, Mass. George Lincoln Goodale. 



*See Bessey's Botany, page 193. 



t Many interesting facts relating to this subject are presented in a popular man- 

 ner by Dr. Andus in his House Plants as Sanitary Agents. 



Correspondence. 

 The Drayton Garden. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir. — Magnolia-on-the-Ashley is little more than a dozen miles 

 from the city of Charleston, and it has been in the possession 

 of the Drayton family since 167 1. Many of the Live Oaks, 

 which were great trees then, still shade the lawns and walks 

 of this garden, and it is full two centuries since the lines of 

 stately Magnolias which rival the Oaks in massiveness and 

 dignity were planted. Early in the history of the place the 

 grounds were laid out with a broad. Oak-bordered meadow in 

 front of the mansion, with another spacious lawn on the river 

 side, and the stream which here drops into the Ashley was 

 expanded into a pair of quiet lakes by two massive dams. 

 Then more Oaks and Magnolias were planted, with some 

 flowering shrubs and herbs, and the paths were bordered with 

 Box. But the minor details of the plan were neglected after 

 a time, while the trees, whose roots found the best of nourish- 

 ment in the phosphate beds which underlie this whole region, 

 kept on making marvellous growth. In 1841, when the pres- 

 ent proprietor, the Reverend J. G. Drayton, D.D.— then a 

 young man with health, to all appearance, shattered beyond 

 hope — returned to the home of his ancestors, he found the 

 great trees, and besides them only some dimly outlined 

 walks, a few specimens of Gardenia, Calycanthus, IlUciutn 

 anisatiiin and some wild shrubs on the border. The 

 young student began his gardening and the life in the open 

 air, which offered the one slender chance for recovery, by 

 planting two Rose bushes. He knew little about plants then 

 and less about work, but since that day his own hands have 

 done most of the planting which has made his garden fa- 

 mous the world over, in some of its features. 



It was six or seven years before Dr. Drayton found he had 

 a chance for life, and in 1848 he planted the first Camellias 

 and Azaleas of his remarkable collection, in which they are 

 now counted by the hundred. Of Camellias there are some 

 300 varieties, many of them seedlings of his own raising. 

 The plants, too, are remarkably large, strong and floriferous. 

 Many specimens are trees more than twenty-five feet high, 

 with trunks thirty inches and more in circumference, and 

 now carrying thousands of flowers. The Azaleas are quite as 

 numerous, and equally remarkable for variety, vigor and 

 size. There are probably 150 distinct kinds, with individual 

 specimens from ten to fifteen feet high and fifteen to twenty 

 feet in diameter. Of course there are other noteworthy trees 

 and shrubs in the garden. So fine an example of Thuya 

 gigantea can hardly be found on this side of the continent, 

 and there is a Cupressus funebris worth a journey to see, 

 with immense specimens of Box Tree, and Rhododendrons, 

 Kalmias and flowering shrubs in abundance. But after all, 

 to northern eyes, the Camellias and Azaleas are the glory 

 of the garden in early spring. From this part of the 

 coast region all, who can, escape in summer to the high- 

 lands of the interior. Dr. Drayton leaves for his summer 

 home in North Carolina as early as the first of May, but the 

 Azaleas are in bloom a month before, and the wealth of glow- 

 ing color along the avenues and on the borders of the lawn, 

 where these shrubs are massed, can hardly be imagined, 

 while the Cherokee Roses are flinging out their white banners 

 from the very tops of the forest trees on the lake shore and 

 covering them all over with flowers, and the Magnolias fill 

 the air with fragrance. 



While the Azaleas are in flower there seems no room for 

 anything else, but a month or six weeks earlier the Camellias 

 appear to fill the garden. Last year they were at their best a 

 fortnight before the great snowstorm fell upon New York, and 

 certainly they never can be more beautiful than they are to- 

 day, and have been for a week past. Numbers and measure- 

 ments give no idea of the dazzling abundance of flowers 

 among the bright green leaves on the long lines of Camellias 

 that stretch away in every direction, flowers single antl double, 

 and showing every tint from snowy-white to almost crimson. 

 Glimpses of the shining river are caught through vistas of 

 flowers, and under the moss-draped branches of the Oaks. 

 The bright colors are all heightened by the dark masses of 

 Magnolia that rise behind them. On the lawn the turf is begin- 

 ning to warm into a tender green, and sheep are nibbling in 

 the meadow, alread)' at their work of keeping it closely 

 cropped. And all this just at the close of February. No 

 wonder the place is so attractive to visitors from the cold 

 North, and no wonder so many of them feel a debt of grati- 

 tude to Dr. Drayton for throwing open all this beauty to be 

 enjoyed by strangers. 



Charleston, S. C, March 2d. «!>. 



