LIFE OF PLANTS. 343 



and if mild or cold weather come on, they shall begin to shoot out 

 stalks afresh, as also leaves. Such trees (if of value) should be shel- 

 tered from the sun for the first summer, especially if the heat is con- 

 siderable. 



In every vegetable there is a certain power of action. In some, as 

 the Blackberry-bush, it is much more than in others. 



Trees, when they have become very much weakened by a long hard 

 frost or winter, shall in the spring begin to sboot out their buds ; but 

 when the weather becomes warm, they are then not able to act equal 

 to the heat, and they die. This sometimes takes place in the whole 

 plant, in others only in part, often in one or more branches ; but as the 

 last shoots of plants are the weakest, we find this effect mostly in those. 

 In hard winters the last shoots may die, and we shall see the living 

 part next to the dead shoot out its leaves ; but as the heat of the 

 weather advances, those leaves shall fade and wither away, and those 

 lower on the vigorous stalk or branch below shall live. If such trees 

 are put into a hothouse to be forced, this effect will be more certain and 

 extensive. 



More striking, I have seen fig-trees in tubs suffer very severely 

 from a hard winter in their last shoots, and those that were put into 

 a hothouse began to vegetate in those last shoots, but both shoot and 

 leaves died, while those leaves from the same shoot below lived. In 

 those trees that were not exposed to a heat above their powers, but 

 were allowed gradually to recover powers as they recovered action, 

 the same effect did not take place. 



[Separate Note on the same subject.'] — I know a Scotch Fir which was 

 transplanted in July 1772, after it had made that year's shoot ; the 

 spring following it had not the least sign of active life, and was supposed 

 to be beyond recovery, although on removing the bark at any part it 

 was found fresh. In the month of July, 1773, it began to shoot, and 

 continued to grow. The same thing happened to a White Thorn. A 

 Spanish Broom was under the same circumstances, and was attended 

 with the same effects. 



On the other hand, we shall find that the actions of life shall be very 

 weak for a season or two, and die at last ; this is a very common thing 

 with new planted trees, and probably with everything that is newly 

 planted. Some, however, do not remain long in this inactive state, but 

 either recover or die ; as many annual plants, and those that live two or 

 three years, e. g. cabbages. 



Of the Movement of the Sap. — The juice of vegetables, commonly 

 called sap, can either ascend directly, pass laterally or obliquely. Thus 

 if we bark a tree nearly all round, leaving only a little part, the juice 



