THEORY OF VEGETATION. 



Figures and paintings of this fruit ornament the 

 walls and furniture of the Chinese. They are 

 presented to parents and superiors, and when out 

 of season imitations in porcelain are used. 



In 1573 Tusser speaks only of red and white 

 varieties. In 1629 Parkinson enumerates twenty- 

 one sorts, and Miller thirty-one in 1750. In 1806 

 the number had reached to sixty-seven, of forty of 

 which Forsyth gives particulars. In the present 

 day the list is much larger, as is well known. 



No. 2. — Theory of Vegetation. 



Without having the pretension to enter very 

 largely into the difficult subject of vegetable phy- 

 siology, and wishing at the same time not to 

 exceed the limits originally proposed for my notes, 

 it will, nevertheless, be proper to devote two or 

 three chapters to an examination of the principles 

 which regulate vegetation. 



In this case theory must necessarily precede and 

 govern practice ; nor is it prudent for the horti- 

 culturist at any time to separate them. 



It is not always at first setting out that the 

 amateur, eager as he may be for information, is in 

 a position to profit by the numerous works on the 

 principles of vegetation. From many causes he 

 generally reverses the natural order of things, and 



