FUXGI AXD FUXGICIDES 



b}' the presence of chlorophyll, and the ability to con- 

 vert the inorganic elements of the soil and air into 

 highly organized comj)ounds. But such j)lants form 

 only a i^art of the vegetable life of the globe. There are 

 vast numbers of the so-called lower plants, like the toad- 

 stools, mushrooms, molds, mildews, rusts, smuts, blights, 

 and similar organisms, which are classed together under 

 the common name of fungus. The i^lural of fungus is 

 fungi — pronounced fnnji — or funguses. These fungi 

 differ greatly from each other ; some rank com2:)aratively 

 high in the scale of existence, and others rank low. 



As an illustration of the higher fungi, we may take 

 one of the mushrooms so common in our fields and 



woods. This plant repro- 



duces by means of spores 

 — minute bodies, corres- 

 ponding in function to the 

 seeds of higher plants. 

 "When one of these spores 

 falls u2:)on a moist soil, 

 rich in decaying organic 

 matter, it germinates by 

 sending out a little tube 

 — much as the kernel of 

 corn sends out its germi- 

 nating radicle — and this 

 tube, after j^enetrating the 

 soil a short distance, sends 

 out side branches, which push about between the decay- 

 ing organic j^articles, absorbing nourishment from them. 

 These branches, in turn, send out other branches, and 

 these form what is called the myceliu7n, or vegetative 

 portion of the fungus ; this continues developing be- 

 neath the surface for some time. Finally an unusual 

 development of mycelium takes place at one or a few 

 points, and from these there are rapidly produced a few 



FIG. 1. MUSHROOM. 



