Atiul 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
woodsmen. You will find these agreeing that trees are 
most abounding with sap near the full of the moon, and 
driest, or most free from sap, during her last quarter. 
Nor do we see any sound reason opposed to the 
opinion that the moon’s attraction causes this result 
of their experience, for if the increased attraction of 
the moon when at the full is sufficient to cause an 
elevation of the waters, there is no good reason for 
expecting that that attraction should not influence 
the rise of fluids in the sap-vessels of plants. And 
the less inclination have we so to expect, since w r e 
know that it is a prevalent opinion among physi¬ 
cians that the same attraction has a powerful influ¬ 
ence over the circulation in the human system.* 
Neither do we know that we should argue against the 
opinion that, influenced by the same attraction, other 
circumstances of temperature and moisture being 
equal, plants grow faster during the increase of the 
moon than during its decrease. Nor do we think it 
improbable that Moses referred to the facts that 
fruits are ripened by the sun, hut that vegetable 
growth is also influenced by the moon, when he 
speaks of “ the precious things brought forth” by the 
one, and “the precious fruits brought forth” by the 
other.” (Deut. xxxiii. 14). 
The same opinion is recorded in other ancient, 
and in many modern, works upon the culture of 
plants, though we need only quote Pallaclius, who 
directs (De Re Rustica ii. 22) that timber for build¬ 
ing should he felled during the moon’s decrease; and 
the following extracts from the Gardeners Chronicle :— 
“ The Trumpet-tree, Malioe Bark-tree, and some 
others, are readily divested of their hark when the 
moon is full; but, when in the wane, the hark ad 
heres tenaciously to the tree. The Sugar-cane has 
more sap and less saccharine matter at full moon 
than at any other time, and the phenomenon is called 
by the planters * a spring in the cane.’ ” Another 
gentleman, writing from Columbia, says, “ In this 
country, trees and plants during the increase of the 
moon are full of sap, at the decrease the sap de 
scends. This is so well-established a fact, that timber 
felled at the increase is useless, rotting immediately. 
I have myself seen, in the Cauca, the great bamboo, 
called Guadua, whose joints supply the purest water 
in the first quarter of the moon, perfectly dry after 
the full moon.” 
On testimony such as we have referred to, we 
ground our belief that the moon has an influence 
over the rise of the sap in plants, and, consequently, 
over their periods of growth ; but our belief extends 
no further. We are well aware that numerous pas¬ 
sages may be found both in Greek and Roman writers 
on the cultivation of the soil, recommending sowing 
and planting to be performed at times coincident with 
the increase or the decrease of the moon, but, then, we 
* The very name of lunatic is derived from tuna, the Latin for the 
moon, and was applied by our older men of medicine to express their 
opinion of that planet’s influence over mental disorder. 
also know that the same authors think that the ap¬ 
plication of manures, and even the most common 
acts of life, should be done with a similar regard to 
lunar influences. Even our own genuine old English 
writer, Tusser, says, in his “Five hundred Points of 
Good Husbandry”:— 
“ Sow Peason and Beans in the wane of the moon ; 
Who soweth them sooner, he soweth too soon : 
That they with the planet may rest and rise, 
And flourish with bearing most plentiful wise.” 
But all this was but a portion of the creed of the 
superstitious of those days; and the superstitious were 
the maj ority, for the majority were ignorant. Werenfels 
thus ridicules an example of these subjects of the 
moon: “ He will not commit his seed to the earth 
when the soil, but when the moon, requires it; he will 
have his hair cut when the moon is in Leo (the Lion), 
that his locks may stare like this animal’s mane; or 
when in Aries (the Ram), that they may curl like its 
horns.” 
THE ERUIT-GARDEN. 
Disbudding Fruit-Trees. —We come now to a 
very pleasurable part of our duty; for, in handling 
this subject, we are reminded that spring has indeed 
arrived, and that ora' lethargic mood, engendered by 
the tedious winter’s gloom, must be shaken off, to give 
place to the utmost activity of both mind and body; 
or success cannot be attained in gardening affairs. 
We have before stated that disbudding is rendered 
imperative, by the necessity that exists for admitting 
and equalising light to trained trees. It claims, 
however, a much wider scope of action; it can be 
made to assist in producing a fruitful habit, by a 
concentration of the sap (or rather the cambium*) in 
certain portions of the tree. This bearing of the 
subject will form matters for discussion in the sum¬ 
mer ; for the present we must be content to confine 
our remarks to spring disbudding; and as the peach 
and nectarine are amongst the first that reqiure the 
operation, we will make our pi-esent remarks to bear 
chiefly on them; although we may here observe that 
the principles, in the main, are applicable to most of 
our trained trees. Whatever modifications become 
necessary we will introduce in due course. We feel 
persuaded that when once the philosophy, or rationale, 
of the practice is thoroughly understood, and its 
great influence on the vegetable structure appreciated, 
that amateurs will be induced very frequently to 
perform this operation with their own hands, instead 
of trusting to a labourer, who does not stay to 
inquire into principles ; more especially as the opera¬ 
tion is necessarily of a progressive cli aracter, requir¬ 
ing that a little be done every two or three days; and 
that little, if commenced in time, only a half hour’s 
labour, or I would rather say pleasure. With regard 
to the cottager, when once he can understand the 
bearing of the process (which we shall accordingly 
simplify as much as possible), he will be enabled to 
teach his children, and thus imperceptibly create a 
desire to extend their knowledge of the economy of 
the vegetable structure. 
Disbudding, then, is intended to accomplish the 
following objects:— 
* The moisture absorbed by the roots, and sent upwards to the 
leaves through vessels in the wood, is called the sap. After this sap 
has been digested in the leaves, and descends quite altered through 
vessels in the bark, it is then described as cambium. 
