METHOD OP TREATING LUCULIA GRATISSIMA. 
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In proof — to some extent at least—that vegetables derive their bulk through 
the medium of the leaves, let the gardener consider the structure of the plants of 
the cucumber and melon tribes, of common chickweed, of Tropajolum tricolor, &c, 
&c., and view the increasing bulk of stem, the boundless development of foliage, 
in a word, the vast accumulated mass of vegetable substance when compared with 
the mere thread of stem near the root : can it be deemed possible that through a 
channel so attenuated, matter so voluminous could have been conveyed ? But view 
the expansive leaves, and discover the infinite number of pores prepared to drinh 
the air ^ and th^n, though admiration maybe exalted, the simplicity of the organs of 
supply will, in proportion, be evident. The doctrine of the sap has hitherto been 
surrounded with mystery, but by the discoveries and application of modern 
chemistry, and the application of instruments to the ends designed, the perfect 
assimilation of the constituents of vegetable nutriment has been rendered, as it 
were, self-evident. 
We are not for one moment inclined to dispute the utility of manures, that is, 
of all those decomposable matters which the gardener mixes with his soils ; the 
only point of contention is this — and we put it in the form of a question — Is there 
a single fact within the experience of the most observant cultivator, which tends to 
show, that one particle of colouring matter (and this a solution of manure would 
exhibit) ever entered the absorbent organs of the roots ? 
METHOD OF TREATING LUCULIA GRATISSIMA. 
It is somewhat singular that a plant of such superior excellence as this, both 
in the magnificence of its large clusters of delicate pink flowers, the period of their 
development, and the delicious perfume they constantly exhale, should still remain, 
after having been in the country so many years, a comparatively scarce species. 
Nurseries, nevertheless, are annually drained of their young stock ; and, though 
it is not increased with the rapidity and ease of some plants, it is far from being 
a difficult plant to propagate. It may be well, then, to inquire whence this 
scarcity comes, and also to add a few hints, culled from the practice of some of the 
most successful cultivators. 
Naturally, the species is of luxuriant growth, making a few shoots, which grow 
to a great length, and, consequently, it is not by any means a bushy plant. After 
it has flowered, or, indeed, before the flowers are well fallen, these branches produce 
several shoots near the apex, all the lower buds remaining dormant ; and hence the 
plant is left bare of leaves and shoots, for, perhaps, more than half its height. 
And, if this is continued for two or three years, the growing powers of the plant 
are impaired, owing to the large quantity of useless old wood that consumes the 
sap necessary to support new growths. From this many cultivators have 
