106 Account of Nectarines and Peaches on the same Branch, 



kept in papers as dry as possible, not applying it till the 

 Stigma is moistened with its own natural exsudation. In 

 those countries where Dates are the principal food of the 

 inhabitants, a famine would sometimes be the consequence 

 of neglecting this precaution ; for the male trees do not 

 flower every year, and it is well authenticated, that Pollen of 

 the Palm performed its office successfully, after being sent 

 many miles by the post, to Berlin. 



Other plants sport in their pubescence as remarkably as 

 the Peach, but being of less importance, are not attended to. 

 Two years ago I observed a Wall-flower-leaved Stock with 

 both smooth and downy leaves, in Messrs. Whitley and 

 Brake's nursery. The common Ling, of which our besoms 

 are made, varies in the same way ; and the Teucrium Hetero- 

 phyllum takes its name from this very circumstance. I con- 

 clude therefore, that all these variations proceed from laws 

 in vegetation, of which we are yet ignorant, but which are 

 immediately connected with the transudation of the sap 

 through the cuticle, and it is possible, that this may even 

 affect the flavour of two fruits upon the same branch. 



