GROWTH or TREES. 245 



young plants of every kind. It is wonderful to see how nature 

 adapts her proceedings to the case in point, and how you may 

 make her vary her modes by changing or aUering the situation 

 to which she is exposed. This is the reason that makes me 

 so unwilling to trust to ^ny knowledge gained by placing a 

 plant in an unnatural position, which is certainly the case when 

 we stop the sap ; arrest the flow of the blood j varying the 

 growth of any particular part, or play any tricks of that kind 

 in order to benefit by the means she will adopt to right herself; 

 bat we are not enough acquainted with the whole arrangement 

 of plants, to improve by such a mode of practice : the result 

 is only formed to lead us into errour ; we misapply the cause, and 

 build a theory on falsehood. The only proper way of studying Necessary to 

 plants is constant watching and dissection. The person who gj^e much 

 will not give up some years to the study, should not attempt it — study. 

 but, to return to my subject. It is not only the shoots from the 

 embryo that come up without a screw ; it is the case also with 

 hungry branches ; these hasty productions are seldom seen 

 in forest trees, though minor trees and shrubs are very subject 

 to them. Whatever part of the tree may be the base from 

 which these branches shoot, a quantity of buds is first formed 

 at that place ; and it is, perhaps, this very cause, that makes them 

 run up so hastily. The buds being ready, they soon appear at 

 the extremity of the twig, one by one, till they have expended 

 all that were assembled — it is the same also when a stool is Manner of 

 hewn for procuring trees, or when a pollard is fresh cut j the shooting in 

 large space allows room for such a number of buds to form, la^ds. 

 that it appears no longer necessary to arrange them in that exact 

 manner ; but they run up hastily, and are soon seen rising alter- 

 nately at the end of the twigs, and developing both buds and 

 leaves. I have sliced several pollards and stools in this situa- 

 tion, just as they were going to shoot ; and the buds have so 

 crowded on each other, that it has been absolutely impossible 

 to count their numbers. This manner, however, of shooting 

 never takes place above once ; the second time always comes 

 with the screw as usual. 



I shall now show how the yearly increase of the stripe in the 

 wood is contrived, which forms the horizontal addition to a 

 tree in width : it is, if possible, attended with more curious 

 ciicumstances than the increase of the new branch — but I 



know 



