REST 39 
to think of a wood in spring with its Bluebells and 
Anemones, and then how badly these same blossoms 
would fare if they came, say, in July. 
Thus the habit of making leaves and flowers 
and getting all the chief above-ground business done 
before the wood is shrouded in shade enables these 
plants to hold their own in places where later blossoms 
_ would have no chance at all. By the time that the 
summer is at its height there is practically nothing 
to be found of them, without a trowel, except a few 
worn-out leaves and their fruits and seeds; all the 
rest is underground, and all that they do until leafing 
and blossoming time comes round again is to lie low 
and to make their roots which will be ready when the 
right time comes to provide next year’s leaves with 
their contribution to the food ingredients; and this 
brings us quite naturally to the next Factor of Life. 
V. REstT 
When we have finished our work for the day, the 
week, or the year, we are glad enough to go to bed at 
night, to take it as easy as we can at the week-end, 
and to put work aside altogether during the vacation ; 
in other words, we sleep at night and are more or less 
slack or lazy during our offtimes and holidays, and 
except that, as I have said already, there is no such 
thing in the vegetable world as the sleep of the animals 
and ourselves, it is very much the same with the plants. 
Rest is the fifth Factor of Life. 
Now, the great work that plants have to do in 
this world is to manufacture food while it is day, and 
if they do not sleep at night they at any rate suspend 
this, although by no means all, work from sunset to 
sunrise, and enjoy a partial rest. Moreover they have 
