BOOK I. 



OF THE PRINCIPAL CIRCUMSTANCES CONNECTED WITH VEGETABLE 



LIFE WHICH ILLUSTRATE THE OPERATIONS OF 



GARDENING. 



A PLANT is a living body composed of an irritable, elastic, 

 hygrometrical matter, called tissue. It is fixed to the earth by 

 roots, and it elevates into the air a stem bearing leaves, flowers, 

 and fruit. It has no power of shifting its place except when it 

 is acted upon by wind or other external forces ; it is therefore 

 peculiarly susceptible of injury or benefit from the accidental 

 circumstances that may surround it ; and, having no free 

 agency, it is above aU other created beings suited to acknow- 

 ledge the power of man. 



In order to turn this power to account, it is necessary to 

 study the manner of life which is peculiar to the vegetable 

 kingdom, and to ascertain what the laws are by which the 

 numerous actions essential to the existence of a plant are 

 regulated. It is, moreover, requisite that the causes which 

 modify those actions, either by increasrug or diminishing their 

 force, should be understood. 



The vital actions of plants have so little apparent resem- 

 blance to those of animals, that we are unable to appreciate 

 their nature in even the smallest degree by a reference to our 

 own sensations, or to any knowledge we may possess of animal 

 functions. Nevertheless, when we carefully reflect upon the 

 phenomena of vegetation, we discover certain unquestionable 

 analogies of a general nature, between the animal and vegetable 

 kingdoms. And although it is necessary that plants should be 



