The muskmelons examined were fine specimens of the "nutmeg" variety, in prime condition for eating. The watermelons were the "long red flesh" variety; they were fine, large specimens, in excellent eating condition. The cucumbers were the "long prickly." Average length of those examined, 6 inches; average diameter, 1 inches. They were in good condition for table use, being fine and crisp. The tomatoes were a very fine seedling (very large) from the "large red" variety. They were grown and furnished by Mr. Rathbone, of Kenwood, Albany. The fruit of the egg plant was a fine, large specimen of the "oval-shaped purple." It was also grown and furnished by Mr. Rathbone, of Kenwood. The pods of the okra were tender, and in a fine state for cooking. They were from a large, thrifty plant grown by Mr. Rathbone.

TABLE XVIII.-Proximate Organic Analyses of the Apple, Pear, Peach, Cherry, and Gooseberry, calculated on 1,000 lbs. of the fresh Fruit.

The cherry, peach, pear, and gooseberry were analyzed by M. Berard.

PLANTS-PHYSIOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS.

It is not without the bounds of possibility to suppose that there is another agent which is concerned in the growth of plants, aside from light and heat, and which is like them imponderable. Indeed, various phenomena of vegetation would seem to indicate such an agent, but whether it has origin in the earth or atmosphere, is, with our present knowledge, not to be determined. The following facts, however, seem to corroborate this theory.

1. If plants grow undisturbed from the seed, they will present a pyramidal form, caused by the main shoot being prolonged as the axis of the plant, while other branches complete the figure. This form many plants retain through life; others, after having arrived at a certain age, spread out at the crown, while the pear tree, which, if suffered to grow undisturbed, will seldom shoot out sprigs from the trunk, if bent to the north will send out numerous shoots from the bend, and if these are cut off, new shoots arise from the old trunk, and these being removed, the tree dies.

2. Hedges which are frequently trimmed do not spread much sideways, but shoot up long and strong branches. This is especially true of hawthorn and fir, and if these shoots are allowed to remain, every one will become a pyramid shaped tree; the lower branches die, and the hedge dies also.

3. If the perpendicular branch or axis of a fir (abies) be removed in summer, then one of the horizontal branches will become perpendicular, and take the place of the one removed.

4. When the Coniferæ grow up densely from the seeds, some soon become higher than others. As soon as this inequality becomes apparent, the smaller ones standing near are seen to die. This process goes on until the forest reaches its growth, hundreds dying where one that attains its full growth. This will take place not only when the larger tree overshadows the smaller, but when it has grown higher, as though the larger tree drew from the atmosphere by attraction something necessary for the life of the others. This fact has given origin to the so-called searching system, by which the smaller trees are removed, both for use and to give more room and nourishment to the larger ones.

5. Where forests spring up naturally, from the seeds of fir, pine, beech, and other trees, driven before the wind and deposited upon level plains and burnt tracts of land, each tree has an axis which is but the prolongation of the primary stalk. This axis grows to the utmost height attained by that speci s of tree. After the tree has reached its greatest height, other branches are more developed,

forming a dense crown. After this the tree increases in bulk only. Small branches spring out, which attain a greater size than those surrounding, and those which are smaller gradually die out, until at last we have a tree of several large branches, standing at considerable intervals. During this struggle for life and ascendancy, the larger branches grow from 12 to 30 inches each year.

An exception to this general law is seen in the artificial forests of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, on the road from Koethen to Berlin. The pine trees are planted in rows from 3 to 4 feet apart, and in these the small pine stems stand at equal distances. These small trees, as far as the eye can reach, are of an equal height, about 5 feet, similar in form, each having a dense crown, as if trimmed carefully with a hedge knife. There is no appearance of an axis rising above the crown, and the annual shoots are only one-fourth or one-half an inch in length. If, then, the age of the tree be calculated from its annual growth, they would be eighty or one hundred years or more old.

These small trees, like the oaks which are grown in China in pots, have attained their growth, and for this reason the crown is fully developed. But why have they grown old so soon? The foresters there attribute it to the soil, but as the same soil in other sections produces large and well-developed trees, we are inclined to think that it is caused by the removal of fallen leaves and moss from the ground, which otherwise would have formed a rich mould, attracting vapors from the air, and thus become a reservoir of carbonic acid.

6. A pine grove adjoins a meadow, upon the edge of which is planted willows. These do not grow perpendicularly, but incline outwards whenever overhung by pines, even at a height of 12 or 16 feet. In a park, the trees on the outside incline as soon as those behind rise from one half to one foct above them.

7. If plants grown in pots are placed under trees with dense foliage, they will soon die, even if they have full benefit of the sunlight.

8. In a dense forest, thousands of seeds fall upon the nearly bare ground and moss, but not a seed will germinate as far as the branches of the trees reach. If the forest is cleared, leaving a few trees standing, the seed from these trees will spring up, but not under the branches of the tree.

9. When a piece of ground is full of seeds of different kinds, no more of them will germinate than can grow up and reach a perfect development. If these be removed, another crop will spring up, and so on through summer and autumn and the next season, and for two or three years, though none of the plants have been allowed to seed. This can be explained only by supposing that the seeds first germinating deprived the others for a time of their germinating power.

From this we derive the following agricultural principles:

1. If the field is not fully covered with the plants sown, weeds will spring up and occupy the empty spaces.

2. Every species of plant requires a certain amount of room to insure its full development. Therefore, a certain quantity of seed-which quantity varies with

the species-is required for a given quantity of land, in order that the ground may be well covered, and weeds cannot spring up.

For the purpose of ascertaining the proper quantity of seed to be sown, experiments have been made by an English agriculturist, upon 30 acres of ground. Oats and Barley were sown as in the following table, which also gives the yield of each:

By this manner the proper amount of seed per acre may be determined. The farmer very often has the following experience: he plants, for instance, 1 bushels of good seed per acre; it comes up so densely that every seed appears to have germinated. The stools are firm and strong, of from 6 to 8 stalks each. The field is perfectly covered, so that a moderate rain or wind beats down the grain. From the appearance of the field, he anticipates a yield of from 75 to 100 bushels per acre, while in reality it yields but from 20 to 25 bushels. This indicates that a portion of the seed sown did not germinate, and the question arises, where are the remaining grains which were sown? If the roots be examined it will be seen that only a few seeds germinated, but that all those which did, stooled, and our inference is that if less seed had been planted, a larger number would have germinated.

If a dense cover is placed over seeds, as for instance a bridge over a ditch, the spot covered will be bare, and the lower the cover is the more effectually will it prevent germination.

Under large broad leaves, as of rhubarb or cabbage, the ground will remain bare, but if such leaves be removed early in the fall, the spot will soon be covered with weeds.

It has been said that climate prevents introduced plants from growing wild. This, to a certain extent, depends upon the meaning of growing wild. If those plants only are considered naturalized which have been years ago introduced into our meadows and forests, it is true that we have very few which we can consider naturalized, and these may have become so under very favorable circumstances,

* I very much doubt whether this statement can be received as reliable; it, however, indicates the course to be pursued to ascertain the facts in the case.-KLIPPART

such as are above mentioned as influencing growth. But if we should consider those plants naturalized which grow spontaneously and without special cultivation in our gardens-and there is no reason why we should not-we have a great number. Many of our most common weeds have been introduced, and of flowers we have several which are not natives.

An examination into the geographical limits of some of our cereals shows that it is not upon climate that their naturalization depends. Wheat grows from the equator to the 60th degree of north latitude, and while, as a general rule, it requires certain conditions of soil and location within this limit, it is sometimes found growing in places least expected. heat once was found growing in the forest of the Manor of Garsden, and on asking the gardener how this happened, he replied that formerly there had been a wheat field at the edge of the forest, and that animals had dropped the seed which had sprung up.

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We may fix the geographical boundary of rye as far north as it will mature in all seasons. Kotzebue found it growing wild near Ft. Ross, in North America, where it is gathered by the Indians. A correspondent writes from Oregon, that he found it on his way from California to Oregon. It is also found in the Desert of Cobi, in Middle Asia. These cereals sometimes make their appearance at a time and place altogether unexpected. The rotation of crops on some land is as follows: 1st, rye; 2d, barley; 3d, oats; 4th, potatoes; 5th, barley; 6th, oats and clover; 7th, clover. In this crop of clover, the seventh after rye, the rye always appears, and sometimes as dense as if sown with great care. The winter cereals do not grow wild, because they cannot germinate in soil covered with grass or shaded by trees; while the summer cereals do not grow wild because they cannot withstand the frosts of winter. Only once have I seen barley germinate from seed which had laid in the ground through the winter; this was in 1857. To know why plants do not grow is of less importance than to ascertain under what circumstances they may become naturalized.

Experience has shown that in many instances plants may become naturalized by accelerating their development.

1. Barley, which in Germany requires from fourteen to fifteen weeks for its full development, attains its maturity in Lapland in from six to seven weeks.

2. Potatoes, the late kinds of which require five months to reach a full development, have, according to Leopold von Buch, not failed in five years in Lyngen, two degrees beyond the Polar Circle-thus attaining their full development in little less than three months. This development is probably accelerated by the long continued presence of light.

3. By a judicious selection and cultivation from seed, we have succeeded in creating a variety of potatoes which mature in August, thus requiring but four months to perfect themselves.

4. Among pears and apples grown from seed, many ripen earlier and some later than those on the parent tree, while at the same time the trees on which they grow are more or less hardy.