13 



sucker, but this is extremely rare, and only when 

 the junction was not complete ; and is undoubtedly 

 one of the very few exceptions to the rule. 



We do not wish to be thought egotistical in this 

 matter, nor take unto ourselves any praise for dis- 

 covering new theories, but simply to state our own 

 observations founded on the experiments of years 

 of patient trial. From childhood we have loved 

 flowers, and particularly the Rose ; from loving it 

 we have made it a "hobby," and desire that its 

 reproduction may be carried on, under the most 

 generous system that looks towards an increased 

 healthy, vigorous growth. 



This subject has long been in our mind, but only 

 recently has it taken so great a prominence, owing 

 to the many advertisements of vendors appending 

 to their notice of Roses for sale, " all on their oioii 

 roots^^^ '"''not budded or grafted,^ ^ &c. We have 

 not in our mind's eye any particular grower when 

 we make these remarks, nor do we wish to call in 

 question the motives of any one ; but simply to 

 express our own views on the subject with a heart- 

 felt desire that every owner of a dooryard in the 

 country, may make it literally "to blossom as the 

 Rose," and that wherever the Monthly penetrates, 

 mankind may enjoy the incalculable blessings conse- 

 quent on the refining influence of flowers. 



VALUE OP VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY. 



BY H. W. RAVENAL, AIKEN, S. C. 



Your remarks in the November number of the 

 Gardeners Monthly on the " Physiology of the 

 Potato" are interesting. As valuable a thing as 

 "practical knowledge" is to the gardener, (and I 

 place a high estimate upon it), it must be confessed 

 that all our modes of management, all our practical 

 rules and all our knowledge derived merely from ex- 

 perience, are more or less empirical, until we learn 

 the why and the wherefore, — or in other words the 

 philosophy of the thing. 



In proportion as we base our treatment of vege- 

 table life upon a knowledge of the laws which 

 govern it, so will we be nearer to making garden- 

 ing, farming and husbandry a science. Agriculture as 

 a comprehensive term, which embraces all these, 

 must necessarily, in its practical details, remain an 

 art, but like medicine its modus operandi may be 

 based on scientific principles. 



The medical man learns the structure of the 

 human frame, anatomy, — he studies the laws which 

 govern it in disease as well as in health, physiology, 



— the qualities and properties of the various drugs 

 and other agents he uses for curing disease and 

 preserving health, materia medica and Thera- 

 peutics. He bases his practice upon his knowl- 

 edge, — he works on scientific principles. 



The intelligent husbandman, or farmer, or gar- 

 dener, should learn the structure of the various 

 plants he has to cultivate, botany, — their different 

 organs or parts, and the functions they perform, 

 vegetable physiology, — the food which they mostly 

 need, and the best manner of furnishing it, the 

 science of manures. Then as the different plants 

 which come under his attention in the garden, the 

 orchard or the farm, have constitutional differences, 

 he must learn their habits, and adopt his treatment 

 accordingly. In a word, he must keep in mind the 

 end he wishes to accomplish and the means he has 

 at his command, Take for instance the kitchen 

 garden. How various and how diversified are the 

 plants of their habits, which he brings together 

 under his management ! 



There are fibrous-rooted plants and tap-rcoted 

 plants, — some are erect and bushy, others trailing 

 on the ground and joint-rooting. There are some 

 cultivated for their foliage only, Cabbage, Lettuce 

 and Spinach ; others for their seed only. Peas, 

 Beans, &c. ; and others again for the fleshy or 

 juicy envelopes of the seed. Squashes. Melons and 

 Tomatoes; some for the tubers or under-ground 

 branches. Potatoes, ground Artichoke ; other for the 

 flower-bud only, globe Artichoke. The Asparagus 

 has its stem with buds or ej^es under ground, and 

 shoots up a flower stalk which we cut when young 

 and tender, as a vegetable. The Onion bears its 

 bulb ju&t on the surface, which is only an enlarged 

 bud, formed by a sudden contraction of the stem 

 and a thickening of the leaf-stalks. Some prefer a 

 damp, others a dry soil ; some require the fullest 

 light and heat of the sun to perfect them ; others, 

 like Celery, need the shade to soften and neutralize 

 their too acid qualities, and the total absence of 

 light to blanch their aromatic leaf-stalks. 



All these facts must be kept in mind, and we 

 must base our treatment upon a knowledge of them 

 if we would accomplish the be?t results. ' 



As a general rule high manuring and deep culti- 

 vation embrace nearly all the requisites of good 

 management, but we can attain higher objects by 

 special treatment. There should be a diagnosis of 

 each particular ct*se. and the treatment made to 

 correspond with the peculiar condition, or wants, 

 or habits of the plant. 



