1 88 



SAGACITY AND MORALITY OF PLANTS. 



rection on the store of starch they laid up in 

 some part or another of their structure underground. 

 They have found out that their succulent stems 



burst with the winter's 

 frost, and so they pro- 

 tect themselves by 

 storing up recuperat- 

 ive materials below the 

 surface of the soil, 

 where the cold can 

 do them little harm. 

 It is a very severe 

 frost indeed which kills 

 bulbs. 



The Primroses, 

 Wild Carrots, Beet, 

 Turnips, and many 

 others, have a root- 

 stock or tap-root, which 

 in some of them actu- 

 ally grows larger every 

 year, something being 

 saved out of the year's 



Fig. 74.-Tap-root of Tankard Turnip, showing annual CXpCnditUre for 

 the root where the food-stuff is stored, , i . xj 



and the Rootlets which collect the soluble ''^^^^ pUrpOSe. JrlCnCC 

 mineral matter from the soil. ^J^g hugenCSS tO which 



plants of the common Primrose grow in compari- 

 son with the small size of the young individuals. 

 Modern agriculture has taken advantage of this 



