362 



HARDY FRUIT GARDEN. 



the young plants in a nursery ; but their preser- 

 vation in such a case is impossible, and there- 

 fore the transplantation of trees of great magni- 

 tude cannot be effected. It is because of the 

 security of the spongioles from injury when the 

 earth is undisturbed, that plants reared in pots 

 are transplanted with so much more success 

 than if taken immediately from the soil. Hence, 

 also, when earth is frozen in a huge ball around 

 the root of a plant, transplantation is effected 

 with the same kind of certainty. The practice 

 of cutting the roots of large trees the year pre- 

 vious to removing them, is attended with success 

 for a similar reason ; wherever the roots are cut 

 through, the new fibres which are emitted, pro- 

 vided the plant is in health, in short tufts, and 

 each terminated by a spongiole, are much more 

 easily taken out of the ground without injury 

 than if they were longer and more scattered 

 among the soil. When destroyed, the spongioles 

 are often speedily replaced, provided a slight 

 degree of growth continues to be maintained. 

 This is one of the reasons why trees removed in 

 October succeed better than if transplanted at 

 any other time. The growth of a tree at that 

 season is not quite over ; and the first impulse 

 of nature, when the tree finds itself in a new 

 situation, is to create new mouths by which to 

 feed when the season for growing again returns." 



The importance of preserving the spongioles 

 has been denied by Rogers, a practical writer of 

 credit, and little regarded by planters in general; 

 while it has been admitted by Downing, Loudon, 

 Sir Henry Steuart, Decandolle, Dutrochet, Bon- 

 net, Papin, Sennebier, Lindley, and others. 

 Rogers gives as a reason for disregarding the pre- 

 servation of the spoDgioles, that they die annually 

 as soon as they have performed their allotted func- 

 tions. " In this the man of science," he remarks, 

 " is at fault, because the practical man knows 

 that leaves on the head of a tree are produced 

 at the same time as the fibres are on the roots, 

 and in many cases both fall off together, The 

 root fibres (or spongioles, if the learned must 

 have it so) of the apple do not, indeed, all fall 

 off, but certainly all become inert and torpid 

 during winter. Besides, it is not altogether to 

 the preservation of the last year's fibres that the 

 planter looks for success; nor can the trans- 

 planted tree be much benefited by saving those 

 organs which have already done their duty. 

 Both the one and the other must rely on the 

 new vigorous fibres which will be produced in the 

 new station; and if a removed tree be planted 

 in soil which is fine, moist, and warm enough, 

 no fears need be entertained but that new fibres 

 will quickly come forth to carry on the growth 

 of the plant. In transplanting a tree, however, 

 there is no necessity for needlessly exposing the 

 roots to the sun and drying air ; this might en- 

 feeble the main roots, which would be of worse 

 consequence to the plant than the mere loss of 

 the spongioles — a majority of which would cer- 

 tainly have died, even if the tree had been 

 allowed to stand in its former place." The Rev. 

 Patrick Keith seems to be of nearly the same 

 opinion; while the author of "The Domestic 

 Gardener's Manual" thinks " that it appears 

 unphilosophical to consider any parts of the root 



to be fugacious and perishable which have been 

 propelled by the permanent members of the 

 tree : such are the radicles or rootlets attached 

 to the young shoots of the past year." 



This office of the spongiolets has been dis- 

 puted by Link, who observes, " Many physiolo- 

 gists assert that the root points suck up the 

 nutritive juices from the soil, and through the 

 roots convey it to the plant, and hence Decan- 

 dolle called them spongioles. Ohlert, an acute 

 observer, proved that this is not at all the case, 

 adducing in evidence ©f his opinion, that plants 

 whose root points or spongiolets hang in the air 

 continue to grow even when these points are cut 

 off and closed over with sealing-wax. In that 

 case, however, he admits that it is necessary the 

 roots themselves should be in water, or in very 

 damp earth. It is worthy of remark, that pre- 

 cisely at the point where the absorbing surface 

 commences, there also the vessels with their 

 accompanying cellular tissue commence." 



As all plants draw a considerable proportion 

 of their food from the soil, it follows as a fact 

 doubted by no sane person, that that food, to 

 enter into the structure of the plant, must needs 

 be in a liquid state. No doubt, plants also 

 derive much support from the atmosphere, 

 which is drawn up by them in a gaseous form 

 through the pores of the leaves as well as through 

 the bark of the trunk and branches. These lat- 

 ter views are entertained by Duhamel, Marriotte, 

 Bonnet, Papin, Priestley, Greer, Saussure, Du- 

 trochet, Keith, &c. 



The ancients had clear enough perceptions of 

 the absorbent power of the roots ; and Anacreon, 

 in one of his little poems in honour of drinking, 

 makes the very trees of the forest drink. Two 

 lines in ode 19 may be thus translated : — 



" The black earth drinks, 

 And the trees drink it ; " 



meaning the moisture the earth contains. 



To reach the plant, this moisture must pass 

 through their roots ; and if we examine how 

 this is done, it will clearly enough appear that 

 the liquid food is drawn into the roots by those 

 innumerable little absorbent bibulous sponges 

 (spongioid) with which even the finest fibre of 

 the root is furnished. ci This is the grand appa- 

 ratus," says Keith, " that nature has destined to 

 the office of the absorption of vegetable nutri- 

 ment ; and it is owing to the powerful absor- 

 bent property of the spongiolae of which it con- 

 sists that the scientific gardener, in the trans- 

 planting of his young trees, or the scientific and 

 ornamental planter, in the transplanting of his 

 trees of full growth, is so extremely careful to 

 preserve entire even the minutest fibre and ex- 

 tremities of the roots." 



The experiments made by Hales, many years 

 ago, being made chiefly on the sections of roots 

 laid bare and merely immersed in water, show 

 only to a limited extent the absorbent power 

 of roots, but in no way illustrate the natural 

 action of the spongioid, collecting nourishment 

 at ten thousand different points, acting simul- 

 taneously together in taking in moisture from 

 the soil. In this respect his experiments are 

 defective. " The absorption of juices by the 



