2 On the Means of giving Strength to 



I have stated the results of experiments, in the Philoso- 

 phical Transactions of 1803 and 18U, which, I believe, 

 satisfactorily prove, that if the stems, or branches, or roots, 

 of a tree be in any part bent by the action of winds, an 

 increased quantity of alburnum will be, in such parts, gene- 

 rated ; by which means additional strength will be given 

 wherever it is requisite to preserve the tree, in any situation 

 where art, or accident, may have placed it. Hence the 

 insulated tree upon the mountain necessarily acquires the 

 short and sturdy form best adapted to enable it to brave 

 with impunity the fury of the storm, and long and slender 

 stems are as necessarily confined to more sheltered situa- 

 tions. 



I have subsequently ascertained that the hand of the 

 gardener can readily do, within the forcing-house, all that is 

 beneficially done by winds out of it : and I am perfectly 

 confident that not only the beauty, but the health also of the 

 tree is improved by being given the form and proportion, 

 which nature intended it to receive. To effect this, the stem 

 should be bent in every direction nearly as far as can be done 

 without danger of breaking it : but how frequently this must 

 be done, to produce the requisite effect, I am not at present 

 prepared to say ; having, in all my experiments, been rather 

 endeavouring to discover the utmost degree of strength, 

 which could be given, than the degree which would simply 

 prove beneficial to the plant. I have, however, some reason 

 to, believe, that the operation need not be, in any case, 

 repeated more often than once in eight or ten days, and that 

 only during the periods in which the stems and branches are 

 increasing in bulk. 



