GENERAL BOTANY 



CHAPTER ONE 



PLANTS FROM OUR STANDPOINT 



One of the most pressing economic problems of the world today 

 is the securing of an adequate food supply. In the older and more 

 densely populated parts of Asia an unfavorable growing season 

 has for centuries meant famine and death for thousands of per- 

 sons, and as a result of the world war nearly every nation on the 

 globe has recently experienced inconvenience or suffering be- 

 cause of limited food resources. The fact that the population of 

 the earth is increasing far more rapidly than the food supply 

 should give us an increased interest in plants, the primary source 

 of all foods. When we realize further that our resources of lum- 

 ber, fuel, fibers, paper pulp, oils, resin, rubber, and numerous 

 other products com 3 from plants, our absolute dependence on 

 plant life for our necessities and comforts is apparent. 



How plants affect our own lives. Before taking up the study 

 of plant hfe let us enumerate briefly some of the more important 

 ways in which plants contribute to pur welfare or detract 

 from it. 



1 . Foods derived from plants. The principal foods of all nations 

 are derived directly from plants. Animal foods are of secondary 

 importance, and all animals live directly or indirectly upon plants. 

 Agriculture is, therefore, the most fundamental of human occu- 

 pations, for of all living beings green plants alone are able to 

 organize the simple materials found in the air, water, and soil 

 into the complex substances which all plants and animals must 

 have for food. 



2. Fuel a plant product. A second necessity of all nations is a 

 fuel supply. Like food, fuel is primarily a plant product. Wood 

 is the most universal source of heat and light energy. Coal, 



