ON ACCELERATING THE FLOWERING OF PLANTS. 
243 
protection or by giving artificial heat. These are annuals, or such 
plants as require a period of six or seven months to arrive at maturity. 
Such are the different sorts of corn and pulse ; the first are compound 
plants, that is, they are not like the cauliflower, supported by one root, 
producing one stem, but have an aggregation of distinct tufts of roots, 
each supporting its own stem and fructification. These stems are very 
simple in structure, and are invested in but a few linear leaves, so that 
they are quickly produced; and as the swelling of the grain does not 
appear to depend on the amplitude or duration of the foliage, it is 
quickly fugitive. 
The different sorts of pulse, viz., common and kidney beans, peas, 
tares, &c., rise from the seed with one stem, which afterward becomes 
more or less branched. Their flowers are not terminal, like the cauli¬ 
flower, but axillary, that is, growing out of the angles formed by the 
leaves and stem ; consequently the lowest flowers appear first, and the 
bloom is continued consecutively upward so long as the soil, the situa¬ 
tion, or the season favours the extension of the plant. Now here it is 
to be observed, that the length of stem between the root and the first 
flower determines not only the earliness of the variety or species, but 
also the period intervening between seed time and harvest. 
From this portion of practical knowledge a practical rule is to be 
derived, namely, the earlier we sow the earlier we shall reap. This 
rule, however, can only apply to hardy annuals, and perhaps to some 
few biennials ; for instance, if we sow early frame, or Warwick, or 
Charlton peas in the month of October, and guard them from the 
severity of the winter, they will be podded sooner than if sown in any 
of the spring months, notwithstanding the latter sown crop will grow 
to greater bulk of straw, and yield a greater quantity of pods. This 
appears to be such a self-evident result that it may give cause for 
wonder why it is at all stated. But the reason for the statement is 
intended to counteract an opinion gravely promulgated, that bulk and 
not age gives maturity, or early ripeness; and hence a rule has been 
laid down, advising common peas and beans not to be sown till the 
spring weather has warmed the ground, thus securing rapid growth 
and earlier podding than if sown in autumn. To practical readers 
this idea needs no refutation; nor is it necessary to marshal proofs of 
its erroneousness, because that part of the stem between the seed and 
the first flower is slowly though completely developed during winter, 
and the floriferous part in the spring, so that such plants are in fact 
one complete stage in advance of spring-sown plants. 
The advantage of accelerating the fruitfulness of tender culinary 
vegetables has been ingeniously and successfully put in practice by an 
