Chapter One 

 INTRODUCTION 



Recreation must be a pleasure in order to give the most 

 valuable relaxation from the daily business routine. The 

 growing plant provides interest and pleasure for those who 

 grow plants as a hobby or in their "Victory" gardens, be- 

 cause both their minds and their bodies are stimulated. This 

 kind of activity is only the summer recreation of some but 

 the year-round interest of many who during the winter read 

 of new plants and new cultural methods and plan ways of 

 improving on the result of their past season's effort. The 

 seed catalogues offer the beginner general guidance in plant 

 culture but as his knowledge grows he is soon beyond the 

 catalogue stage. 



The many questions of friends concerning their growing 

 plants stimulated the author to select what seems to be the 

 fundamental knowledge necessary for the solving of their 

 problems. These people are already growing plants success- 

 fully, but they are interested in the requirements of plants 

 and the best cultural methods for meeting them. Our scien- 

 tific age has been an important stimulus to study the basic 

 reasons for the many plant responses. The following is an 

 introductory survey of the point of view and the material 

 covered in these various fields. 



To deal with the laws of nature as they govern the growth 

 of plants requires a wide range of knowledge because growth 

 involves the response of many activities of all parts of the 

 plant to soil, water, temperature and air, as well as to the 

 plant's enemies and other factors of its surroundings. This 

 response of plants to their environment has been developed 

 to the extent that it is known as the science of "Ecology." 



