Decline of Growth and the Best Period. 115 



come sufficiently dormant to endure the rigor of the 

 rest period in any given locality is inherited, and not 

 acquired. W,e are, therefore, able to do very little 

 toward inuring or acclimatizing (ac-cli'-ma-tiz-ing) in- 

 dividual plants to an environment to which they were 

 not adapted by nature. We may, however, through the 

 variations of offspring (18), secure varieties in some 

 cases that can endure an environment which the parents 

 could not endure. 



176. Plant Processes during the Rest Period may 

 not entirely cease. Although food preparation is wholly 

 suspended, root growth and the callusing (72) of in- 

 jured root surfaces proceed to some extent during win- 

 ter in unfrozen layers of soil; and in sufficiently mild 

 weather, the reserve food in the stem gradually moves 

 in the direction of the terminal buds. 



177. Cuttings (358) of Woody Plants are Preferably 

 ' Made in Autumn in climates of severe winters and 



buried in the ground below the limit of hard freezing, 

 in order that callusing (72) and the transfer of food 

 may make some progress before the final planting. 



178. The "Turn of the Year." Toward the close of 

 the dormant season, vegetation, as if benefited by the 

 rest, is prepared to start with renewed vigor, even at 

 moderate temperatures. Buds, that remained dormant 

 during the latter part of the previous summer, push 

 into growth with the first warm days of spring, and 

 many seeds, that could not be induced to germinate the 

 preceding autumn, start with vigor as soon as the soil 

 is sufficiently warm. 



