LILY OF THE VALLEY.

of the particles is proved by the fact, that a piece of musk, diffusing for years its perfume, does not lose anything considerable of its weight.

One of the most commonly-cultivated garden-flowers in bloom this month is the Greek valerian, very often called Jacob's ladder, probably from the regular ladderlike steps of the winged leaves. It is a native of this

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country, but is rarely to be met with in a wild state, no doubt because when it is found the roots are so frequently transplanted into gardens. One was observed near Buxton, in Derbyshire, the flower being of a colour not seen in gardens. It was of a rich purplish blue, somewhat like that of the sweet violet, but not quite so dark. The garden varieties are more purely blue, without any shade of purple, though they vary very much in the depth of the colour; and some are pure white.

Not so the plant, which In addition to this, as from the soil it rejects

One point of difference between plants and animals may here be noticed; the latter can travel about in search of food. Even the sluggish oyster can shift its position on its native rock. is rooted in a particular spot. on digesting its food taken up what is unsuitable, so from the increase of this about its roots the soil becomes less and less fitted for its support.

In the laws that regulate the physical world, however, wherever there is a want, a supply is provided by the great Creator. And interesting indeed are the means provided for the nourishment of plants. Observe, for instance, the strawberry. No sooner is its root established, either from seed or a planted offset,

STRAWBERRY PLANTS.

or even from a runner spontaneously fixing itself, than it begins to feed on the plant-food of the soil, and to fill it up with what it rejects. But immediately the means appear for obviating the disadvantage. The root cannot remove of its own accord from the spot, but shoots spring and go off in all directions round

THE STRAWBERRY PLANT SENDING FORTH SHOOTS.

the root, in quest of fresh soil. Strawberries are usually said to be biennial, or, rather, triennial, in

bearing fruit. But this is probably a mistake, arising from the rapidity with which they corrupt and exhaust the soil. The crown which bears fruit is, probably, annual, and it is only the new crowns formed by the side of this that produce the second and third year's crop. It is remarkable that not only the old plants send off runners, but even the young plants on the runners themselves begin, sometimes before they are rooted, to send off runners also, as if they could not otherwise escape far enough from the mother plant.

Another instance of this kind occurs in the violet, which is here mentioned because practical gardeners have lately found it to be a great improvement in planting some species, to wash the roots clean, instead of taking them up laden with balls of earth. When the roots are removed with the earth about them, the gardener washes away the deteriorated soil, probably without being aware of the principle of deterioration. In consequence of this they flourish when otherwise they would not; and it is not improbable that the same method of washing the old strawberry roots and replanting them, instead of throwing them away, would prove equally successful. It might also be applied to other species of plants which show a rapid corruption and exhaustion of the soil by sending off runners.

TREES.

On comparing the annual species of violets, which, by an admirable mechanism, project their seeds to a considerable distance-with the perennial species, which diffuse themselves by creeping runners-nothing is more remarkable than the difference between them on shedding their ripe seeds. The latter have not the means of scattering their seeds to a distance. The seed-pod, indeed, has its valves, like those of the other, but they do not collapse on the ripe seed; nor have they the means of elevating the seed-pod. Moreover, the first flowers of the creeping violets, so much admired for their fragrance, are rarely productive of seed at all; and it is only the flowers which are produced in summer, nearly without petals, and rarely seen or remarked, that are succeeded by seeds; perhaps, because in very hot, dry weather the whole plants, runners and all, being very liable to wither up and perish, the seeds are only then providentially produced, that the species may not be altogether lost. How worthy are such facts of remembrance!

Is it said, But what becomes of plants that do not creep? Other means are provided. Let us take an instance from the several sorts of trees. When one of these finds the soil so corrupt that the root-fibres can no longer supply the demand of the leaves and