AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
213 
appear, also, before we finish, that the subject has 
some practical bearings. 
During the warm days of Winter and early 
Spring, the spongioles (minute absorbing tubes) 
of the root gather up the crude sap. During 
frosty weather there is only a little circulation in 
the tree ; but as soon as Spring opens, the sap, 
with which the roots and lower part of the trunk 
have become gorged, rapidly ascends through the 
cells of the new wood into the leaves. We do 
not presume to say precisely by what power it is 
caused to rise. Capillary attraction may account 
for it in part, but not wholly, and the principal 
called “ endosmose ” may share some of the hon¬ 
or ; but, after all our speculations and large words, 
the mystery is left unexplained. The plant has 
no propelling engine, like the heart of an animal, 
to force its fluids to the extremities of the system. 
The sap runs up hill in spite of the laws of gra¬ 
vitation. Yet it does not rise in a dead tree, 
though that tree may have all its cells as perfect 
as a living one. This principle is wholly beyond 
our explanation. The exercise of Divine power 
alone can account for it. 
The sap having reached the leaves, its water is 
exhaled, oxygen is given off, and carbon and hy¬ 
drogen are retained to furnish food for the grow¬ 
ing plant. The leaves absorb carbonic acid from 
the air. The sap being properly elaborated, now 
begins its descent through the inner bark, and is 
deposited all along the tree in the form of new 
wood, buds, leaves, bark and roots. If we cut 
into a tree, at certain seasons, we find a mucil¬ 
age between the inner bark and the sap-wood, 
which is supposed to be the elaborated sap de¬ 
scending to form the new growth of the tree. It 
deposits a new layer of wood on theoutside ofthe 
last year’s growth, and a new layer of bark with¬ 
in the previous one. Thus, concentric layers or 
rings are formed, by which the age of trees can 
be determined with more or less accuracy. When 
the leaves fall, in the Autumn, this process of cir¬ 
culation is materially arrested, and continues so 
until the return of another Spring. 
Does not this theory account for all the impor¬ 
tant phenomena of vegetable growth 1 The pre¬ 
sumption urged against it by the new theory is 
not very formidable. After seeing a corn-stalk 
grow eight feet in a single Summer, a child might 
say that nature could not bo so slow and indirect 
in her movements as to take a century for grow¬ 
ing an oak. The Frenchman probably thought 
his vegetable experiment could not be beat. But 
the difficulty in that case is no greater than is 
presented in every instance of a grafted tree. 
The descending sap ofthe graft does not deposit 
wood of its own sort on the stock itself, because 
the bark—whether of the graft or the stock—de¬ 
termines what shall be the individual character of 
the wood beneath it. Or the cells themselves 
may take up the descending sap and form new 
cells around them of their own character. 
A similar law may explain the beet mystery. 
Ifwe graft rings of the bark of various allied spe¬ 
cies, such as the pear, apple and quince upon dif¬ 
ferent parts of the same trunk, we shall find, after 
a few years, that the pear bark has deposited pear 
wood, the quince bark quince wood, and so on. 
Such experiments go to show that the character 
of the wood depends on the bark which over-lays 
it. If we fasten a cord or wire around a growing 
branch, we shall find, in the course of a year, that 
the portion of the branch below the ligature 
makes but little increase in #dze, while that above 
enlarges rapidly. And why- Because the liga 
ture compresses the outer bark so that the de¬ 
scending sap can not pass under it freely and make 
deposits of new wood below, it The branch will 
appear something like what is shown in the en¬ 
graving. A, represents 
the point encircled by 
the ligature, the branch 
above being larger than 
that below it. 
But without enlarging 
further on this topic 
we find in the theory 
just stated, the princi¬ 
ple on which several important operations in farm¬ 
ing and gardening rest. It has been found by ex¬ 
perience, that the old custom of topping corn just 
as it begins to glaze, is injurious to the crop. The 
loss in weight of the corn so managed is greater 
than the value of the stalks And why this inju¬ 
ry 1 Because, as soon as the tops of the stalks are 
cut off, the ascent and descent of sap are stopped, 
and the ears get little or no further food. 
Ignorant gardeners sometimes strip off the 
leaves from their grape vines, in order to expose 
the clusters to the sun and so to hasten their 
ripening. But this is always injurious, because 
the leaves are essential to elaborate the juices 
which go to mature and ripen the fruit. 
----- 
Palling Fruits. 
Already the apples, pears and plums are begin¬ 
ning to drop abundantly from the trees. If you 
examine these, you will discover not a single 
sound specimen amosg them. They have fallen, 
not by the winds, but, quite likely, prematurely 
from disease. Cut them open, and you find either 
eggs, or gfubs already at work upon the substance 
of the fruit. Every one of these fruits is a pest- 
housG, to be immediately destroyed. It is good 
work for the boys to pick them up, and throw 
them into the pigstye, where they will be devour¬ 
ed, or rot among the fermenting manures. We 
are persuaded that the destruction caused by the 
curculio, and by the grubs that prey upon the ap¬ 
ples and pears, is caused, mainly, by the neglect 
of this simple precaution. The fallen fruit is 
suffered to lie upon the ground, and mature its 
progeny of insects. The next year they swarm 
in increasing numbers, and the farmer complains 
that there is something peculiar in his soil and 
climate; he cannot grow good fruit. The diffi¬ 
culty is in the man and not in his soil. Pick up 
the fallen fruit. 
And this reminds us of an apple orchard we 
visited last season. The proprietor had been accus¬ 
tomed for years to turn in his store pigs, and to keep 
them through the season, until the apples were 
sufficiently mature for making cider. Not an ap¬ 
ple escaped the pigs from July to September. The 
consequence of this policy was, that he had fair, 
handsome apples to sell, while his neighbors 
were complaining that their crop was nearly all 
perforated with worms. Shall the pigs have a 
chance at the fallen fruit 1 
4 — m& t * - » <v- 
What is the Matter with the Apple Trees ? 
To the Readers of the American Agriculturist: 
Have you noticed their feeble growth and the 
falling of the young fruit in unusual quantities! 
Look at the bottom for the trouble. Remove the 
dirt from around the collar with a hoe and with 
your sharp pointed knife, examine for the borer. 
Very likely you will find the tree half girdled with 
this insect. Most orchards are ruined before their 
owners begin to suspect the cause. They pre¬ 
sume that everything is right with the tree, be¬ 
cause the top remains green; while the worm is 
doing his work under the bark. Nothing but vig- 
lance—a careful examination of the collar of the 
tree twice a year—will secure it against the borer. 
If this was not done last month- let it be attended 
to now. It will be some satisfaction to see where 
the enemy has been, and to know where to expect 
him in the Autumn. We have frequently seen 
thrifty trees of eight or ten years’ growth com¬ 
pletely killed for want of ten minutes’ work with 
a sharp knife and a bit of wire. Bore the borer 
or he will bore your trees. Connecticut. 
-s- »- 
German Prune. ( Zwetscbge.) 
Accord ing to the statement of Dr. Chas. Schaum 
in the Bauern Journal, it appears that there ha 3 
been a mistake among the German population of 
this country with regard to the culture of their most 
cherished Fall fruit, the zwetscbge (German 
Prune). They have labored under the supposition 
that this variety degenerated here into the com¬ 
mon prune of the country. Opposed to this belier 
he cites the fact that Mr. Backhatis, a well-known 
farmer of Long Island, planted, some ten years 
ago, a quantity of the zwetscbge trees which are 
now yielding the genuine fruit, or so scarcely re¬ 
moved from it as hardly to be perceived. F 
Pfeifer of Indiana Co. Pa., and Mr. Tattler o> 
Oneida Co , N Y., corroborate the same, having 
raised the real German prune for a longer time. 
--— » «i» - 
A Cheap Double Garden Syringe. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist. 
I notice with pleasure, in your paper, illustra¬ 
tions of various new implements for the more 
convenient and practical operations in agriculture 
and horticulture. I have just finished, for myself, 
a little instrument to exterminate the lice and 
green worms on my rose bushes, and other shrub¬ 
bery; and finding that it works so admirably, and 
is so cheap, I am induced to send a sketch of it 
to the readers of the Agriculturist, if you think 
proper to have it engraved. A, is a tin tube, 12 
inches long and 2 inches in diameter. B, the 
plunger, or piston, with a wooden handle, C. This 
head, B, is a short tin tube, a little smaller than the 
main barrel with a piece of circular tin upon each 
end and fitting the. barrel, which leaves a place 
for winding on yarn, to make it water tight. 
D, is a thin wooden head-piece, fitted into the end 
of the tin barrel, with a hole in the centre of suffi 
cient size to admit the piston rod, or handle. 
E, E, are tin nozzles, one upon the end of thje 
barrel, and one upon the side near the end, with 
two covers to slip snugly upon them. The covers 
are about the size of an ordinary tin pepper-box 
cover, one being perforated with a'few holes, and 
the other a tight top, so that they can be shifted 
and the water thrown from the end or from the 
side at pleasure. 
The object of the side nozzle is, that when 
held under the bushes the exterminating fluid 
may be thrown up on the under side of the 
leaves, which saturates them thoroughly, and, in 
falling, gives the other leaves a beautiful shower- 
bath. 
The whale oil soap I presume is best, but as 
I cannot get it here I use the common soft soap. 
B. B. Cushing. 
Frankfort, Me., June 1st, 1858. 
Pride in a beauty is like a flaw in a diamond. 
