70 



is necessary to return the sap to nourish 

 the root. If this theory is true, coppice- 

 wood, hedges, and shrubs which are in- 

 tended to shoot up again, should be cut at 

 the end of winter, — not at the beginning 

 of winter. If they are cut at the begin- 

 ning of winter, the transpiratory parts 

 of the plants in the air are dispropor- 

 tioned to the absorbent parts in the earth, 

 and the circulation and elaboration of the 

 sap is injured through the whole winter, 

 till the plant can shoot out again in the 

 spring. I imagine that this circulation 

 and elaboration do go on in the winter ; 

 that, in the early part of winter, actual 

 new growth of the root is often going 

 on ; and that, during the whole of win- 

 ter, the new growth is solidifying and 

 becoming woody. 



I consider it a proof both of the exist- 

 ence and of the necessity of this winter 

 circulation and elaboration of the sap, 

 that shrubs which are headed at the 



4 



