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Show 176 ElVIIGI AN'f 'S GUIDE. a.nnoally nroiruJ new leaves and branches. T n this cla ~s i:3 incluJed by far the grf'atest part of forest trees and shruh3. 3°. Veg~tablcs, ·whose leaves anJ stems , pcri~l1 ~~y t~~. ::~ction of fro t; but wbose roots, protected by the r~alln, remam UninJured, and annually produce new stalks, leaves ami now<::.rs. . 4°. Those phnts wl1icb arc destroyed nt1rcJy b7 fro ~ t, or whtch othe rwise perish in Jess tlwn a year, and the srecH::S o{ \V hom are annual! y renewed frotn seed. 5°. 'I,o the above may Le adJed a fifth class of plan~s, w!1ich have a vtateJ existence of one or more years, and then pertsb, mfluenccd by external causes. . In the third cl ass is tbe sugar cane, and that spec1es of cotton cultivateJ in the United States. In the fourth class arc aiJ our mo5t valuable culinary vegetaoles; wheat, rye, maize, oats, barley, rice; r~H cultivated plants of the papilionaceous tribe, bean~, pea, e, and. lu· pines ; both species of potatoes, and all the spec1es of pump10ns, ~quashes, gourds, melons, and cucumbers. Colton, though replanted annually in the United States, its roots can be made to survive the '"rinters of Louisiana, Alabama, and Georgia. Very little protection is necess~ry to per~~it thc ,p rinciple of life Leiner perpetuateJ through the wmtcr, but d thus renewed, we arc un;1cquainted how long tbc vegetable would continne to exist by this mode. · Sugar cane is, on the Mississippi, cultivat ed by layi ng the stalk in furrows, and from the joints new stems arise. The body of the plant, thoucrh more tender than that of cotton , its roots are more harJ y , and casi~r protected from the frost A slight covering is suffici ent to guard the roots during winter ; and in this manner the plant is reareJ two or three years, when it is generally rene,ved by )ayers. Did not the cotton ami sugar yield their re spectire products :mmlally, and if a perpetuity of their stems were ncccssJry, ·nei thcr could be cultivated in the U niteJ States. The flower aod fruit of the olive are placed very nearly in the earn~ state as the entire stems of the . ugar cane and cotton. With· out considering the trunks of the two former, we may view the life of these four vegetables as gradually approa~bing each other. lt will. be seen, by comparison, that the time fr01~ planting to the ripening of 5ugar cane, and from the blossom to the ripe fruit of the olive, is very nearly equal; and if the soil necessary for sugar cane and the olive tree were similar, the two vegetables woulu be eas ily cultivated .to· gether. This, however, not being the case, the. form er, dcmandmg a deep loam, trill always be confined in e ·tent, whilst the latter, gro,~· ing inJifferently upon ~J J soils, may be propagated wherever the a1r is sufficiently warm and steady to admit its growth. The orange tree, though an evergreen, is tender, anJ y ieiJs to fro t at a cold. but little more severe thau necessary to destroy sugar cane; :it will not exist much above the latter plant, and not so far uorth as even the olive. The viAe and cotton will accompany each other. Where th~ sum~ lners are sufficiently long to admit the latter to perfect its frwt, the EMIGRANT'S GUIDE. 177 former may also; but the winters may destroy the vine~ in place£\ where from reasons already hown, the cotton may be culhvateJ. It \;ill appear obvious, that to determine whether any veget~Lle can be transplanted hom one given place to another, that four tlungs are necessary to be known, and when ~nee d.etermined : the problem is solved. without the expense of actual expenment. If, for exam~le , the valley of Mobile, Provence in the south of France, and the olive tree are taken as examples. 1°. 'J;he extremes between frosts in the respective places, or, in other words, the length of the absolute summers. 2°. The intensity of their winters, and the ordinary quantity of frost and snow. 3°. The summer life, or more explicitly the time between the flower and ripe fruit of the olive. 4°. The degree of cold at which the tree p~ri shes. . If it was found that more days intervened m the Valley of 1\f obde, between spring an.d :lt~tumn frosts, tl!an did .l~e.tween the bloomi1~g of the flower and npPnrng of the frmt; and 1f 1t was also d.etcrmmed that the frost of the Mobile Valley was less intense than those that destroyed the olive tree, then all apprehension of danger from a chang of climate would v:mish. The same rule holJs good respecting all other vegetables. The decadence of vegetables is often an evil almost equal to their entire destruction. This deterioration frequently ri ses from a cause mostly overlooked. Amongst the modes of perpetuating the species of vegetables, nature admits of one, not common to th · animal kingdom. Most trees, sugar cane, all bulbous, and. most tuberous rooted vegetables, may be continuc::d and multipl ietl without seed. Branches of trees and. the stems af sugar cane will vegetate, if placed in the earth at proper times, and produce trees antl stems in all respects similar to the parent stock. Potatoes are constantly produced in the same man~ ner ; but- this is merely multiplying the branches of the individual ; the absolute species; cannot be rencwe"d except from seed. All vegetables having their periods of increase, du ration, and de ~ cline, cannot be made to exist beyond a certain length of time. N a~ ture seems to have admitted but one certain mode of perpetuating life indefinitely; a recurrence to the fountain of exi stence. When it is mentioned that any tree is mu1tiplied by layers, it ought not to excite wonJer that the individuals languish and peri:3h. That species of poplar cultivated in the United States under the vulgar name of Lombardy poplar, belongs to the 22d class dioecia of Linnreus, or trees having male and female flowers Qn dill'erent trees. Only the male tree exists in the United States ; the indi viduals are formed from branche5, and is no doubt one cause of the langui hing and wretched appearance of this tree in most places where it exists in the United Sates. ' The olive, cherry, apple, and peach are all. capable of being thus produced, anu all must submit to tbe laws of uature. Sprouts from 23 • |