92 THE PHILADELPHIA FLORIST. [July 



if ^^ ^ ~~^d3im 



U) ing charge of an establishment I found a trellis covered with unprun- r@j 

 d 3 ed Isabella vines ; it was in the middle of April, and the eyes were ^n 

 bursting. They looked so untidy that I determined to prune them, ^ 

 bleed or not ; 1 did not so firmly believe in the injurious effects of 

 bleeding then as I had formerly done — I resolved to decide it then, 

 and forever. 1 pruned half the trellis of vines, and let them bleed as 

 they might; the other half I left unpruned, but made them look as tidy 

 as I could. They proved equal ultimately in all respects ; the prun- 

 ing had not injured them — the only advantage gained was the impro- 

 ved appearance I desired. Well, sir, 1 had gained my point., I had 

 proved that bleeding was not injurious. I next endeavored to under- 

 stand why it was not so, and I found ample reason; 1 watched the pro- 

 cess of bleeding, and found that it ceased Immediately on the opening 

 of the blossoms; on examining the wood I found that the flow seemed 

 to proceed through the pores of the wood, rather .than through .the 

 bark or the alburnum; and upon collecting some of the fluid, I found 

 both in the vine and the maple that it tasted nearly like water, quite 

 different from the taste of the alburnum or inner bark. 1 watched 

 also the growth of the maple further — I found that in trees of the same 

 age, growing side by side, those bled most which had blossom buds, 

 and that the bleeding ceased on the expansion of these buds — those 

 which had no blossom buds were irregular in the time when their ceas- 

 ing to bleed arrived. 



From these facts I concluded that the moisture given out in bleed- 

 ing was very raw, crude sap, kept in readiness by the plant to supply 

 the great extra evaporation which must naturally take place on the 

 bursting of the buds. It seemed, firstly, that some source to supply 

 the sudden evaporation was necessary ; secondly, the flavor of the sap 

 showed that it could be of very little service, except to supply that 

 evaporation, as, had it been ever elaborated in the leaves, it would 

 have tasted like the inner bark; and thirdly, the experiment on the 

 grape and the maple proved, by their being uninjured, that the buds 

 left on the trees after pruning did obtain from the stock that was left, 

 sufficient for all their evaporating purposes. 



In conclusion, I beg to assure my friend that I write these remarks 

 in a good spirit, for what 1 believe to be a physiological truth. It 

 will be the last time, however, that I shall notice the closeted cavil- 

 ings of any one. What I write is from my own observation and ex- 

 perience. If these are different from those of my friends, it will be a 

 pleasure for me to know it through the " Florist," and study their 

 point. A Pharisaical prayer for our "practical" improvement in the 

 profession will not prove or disprove any one fact. Let us have bet- 

 el ter arguments than these. s Thos. Meehan. k 



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