THE LIFE -HISTORY OF PLANTS. 



9 



THE LIFE-HISTORY OF PLANTS. 



By Dr. Maxwell T. Masters, F.E.S. 



PRUNING. 

 OW that the life-history of plants has been 

 sketched, so far as regards the processes of 

 nutrition and growth and their attendant phe- 

 nomena, we are in a position to understand more 

 clearly than we could otherwise do certain garden 

 practices, which have been taught by experience and 

 handed down from our forefathers vith compara- 

 tively little thought as to the principles underlying 

 them. One consequence of this is that improve- 

 ment and progress, if not absolutely arrested, have 

 been rendered slower than they need be ; and by ig- 

 noring the lessons which the first principles of botany, 

 anatomy, physiology, and chemistry are calculated 

 to teach, we deprive ourselves of the means of ac- 

 commodating ourselves to new conditions and new 

 combinations of circumstances. On the principle of 

 the dominance or survival of the fittest, we must, as 

 a consequence, be prepared to sefe ourselves distanced 

 in the race by those who have unfathomed the 

 secrets of nature, and applied them to their own 

 purposes more efiicientl}^ than we have done. At 

 the present moment the depressed condition of agri- 

 culture is a case in point. New circumstances and 

 new combinations of circumstances have arisen, and 

 agriculturists are not able to cope with them, partly 

 from circumstances quite beyond their control, but 

 partly also from addiction to routine and unwilling- 

 ness to adopt new methods, or to avail themselves of 

 new resources. They have metaphorically put all 

 their eggs into one basket, and when disaster arises, 

 the}" have no compensation left. The gardeners and 

 market gardeners are in advance of the farmer in 

 these particulars ; but who can say that they have 

 availed themselves of more than a fractional part 

 of the advantages which diligent investigation into 

 the operations of plant-life is calculated to afford 

 them ? 



Adverting to the practical operations of the 

 gardener, little need be said here about them, as they 

 are treated of under their separate headings, and 

 reference to the foregoing articles should supply 

 abundant hints as to the raiionak of the methods of 

 tillage and (;ra^'nage of the soil, according to its 

 nature and that of the roots to be grown in it, of the 

 art of potting, the application of water and of other 

 plant-foods, of the necessity for cleanliness, for ex- 

 posure to sun, or to shading at certain times and 

 under certain circumstances, of the requirements of 

 temperature, ventilation, and the like. It is for the 

 scientist to find out, and when found out, to explain 

 " the reason why " of all these matters — it is for the 

 practical man to avail himself of the information, 



and adapt it according to his requirements and the 

 circumstances of the case. 



Pruning. — The subject of pruning has not been 

 dealt with except incidentally, but before passing 

 on to the consideration of the multiplication and re- 

 production of plants, a few remarks on this matter 

 seem called for. For practical details relating'to it, 

 the reader is referred to the several articles on the 

 cultivation of the Vine, of fruit-trees, the Rose, t&c. 

 The practice necessarily vaiies according to circum- 

 stances, but in all cases it consists in the removal 

 by the gardener of a number of shoots or buds, now 

 for one purpose, now for another, as Shakspeare in- 

 dicated — 



" Go tliou, and like an executioner 

 Cut off the heads of too-fast growing sprays. 

 That look too lofty in ovir commonwealtli ; 

 All must be even in our government, 



. superfluous branches 

 We lop away that bearing boughs may live." 



Considered abstractedly, the practice seems bar- 

 barous and destructive ; considered with reference to 

 the plant in a state of nature, it may sometimes be in- 

 jurious ; but from the practical point of view, if it 

 be judiciously carried out, either no injury results, or 

 w^hatever damage be done is more than compensated 

 for by the advantages which accrue ; and if, as is 

 sometimes but not always the case, the result be 

 the shortened life or diseased condition of the plant 

 operated on, the evils are easily remedied by the 

 propagation of new trees to replace the old, or by 

 other means known to the practitioner. 



iNatural Pruning.— Nature herself accom- 

 plishes a good deal more pruning than is usually be- 

 lieved. The fine root-hairs previously mentioned, 

 and even the finer fibrils, are very often thrown off 

 at one time to be replaced at another by new forma- 

 tions. We have an instance of this in Pot Vinos, 

 A liberal " top-dressing " of manure M'ill insure the 

 formation of a large number of feeding roots, but 

 when the season's work is over and the leaves fall 

 off, the smaller root-fibrils wither and decay. The 

 fall of the leaf itself may be regarded as a kind of 

 pruning. As we have seen, the fall of the leaf is 

 provided for from a very early period of its growth 

 — in the ordinary course of things it is inevitable. 

 But the decay of the root-fibrils and the fall of the 

 leaf do not occur till the resting-period begins, till 

 the time when no more supplies are reqiiired, and 

 when the leaves have yielded up their contents, 

 to be safely stored in the bark or other store-place. 

 This furnishes a hint when to prune, which Virgil, 

 did not overlook — 



