THE planter's GUIDE. 



9L 



stout and vigorous, and nourished by adequate side- 

 branches, can obyiate the evils above delineated. Sup- 

 ports or props, whether composed of wood, cordage, or 

 any other material, are of little avail in giving stability. 

 To a body rather deficient in proper strength, a rich and 

 favourable soil may, after some years, give an augmentation 

 of roots and lateral branches, and in the end a certain 

 accession of strength to the body itself. But he who 

 would transplant with judgment should consider a vigor- 

 ous stem as a sine qud non in the beginning ; as success 

 otherwise must depend on accidents which he cannot con- 

 trol, and on advantages which he may not procure at an 

 after period. 



Thiedly. — x^umerousness of roots and fibres. Roots are 

 also accounted among the conservative organs. The body 

 of the roots of trees, says Malpighi, may be regarded as 

 a production and elongation of the trunk beneath the soil, 

 and is constructed of the same textures disposed in the 

 same manner.'" Roots, hke the stem, are augmented in 

 their width by the addition of an annual layer, and in their 

 length by the addition of an annual shoot, bursting from the 

 terminating fibre ; but they are elongated merely by the ex- 

 tremity. This is the general opinion of phytologists. 

 It has, however, of late been called in question, and great 

 ability has been displayed in making it appear that the 

 root is not elongated by the extremity, any more than the 

 stem ; or, if it be so, that the rule has numerous exceptions.f 



As trees have no organs analogous to the mouths of 

 animals, they are enabled to take up the nourishment 

 which is necessary for their support only by absorption 

 and inhalation, as the chyle is taken into the animal 

 lacteals, or air into the lungs. This, in the language of 



* Anat. Plantar, p. 145. 



t See Thomson's Annals of Philos. No. LXXVI. p. 229. 



