94 THE NATURE-STUDY OF PLANTS 
will have increased in diameter, and the part nearest 
the ground will be surrounded by the bases of the 
stalks of those leaves which have done their work 
and withered away. 
Now, just as it is quite impossible to confine one’s 
various interests in life each within its own separate 
compartment, so it would be a great mistake to try 
to deal with the closely interwoven factors of life one 
by one; for the life of a plant is, like its body, one 
harmonious whole, of which we can form a mental 
picture only by realising the interdependence of its 
various organs, their functions and their activities. 
We shall frequently find as we progress that one 
observation persuasively suggests the next until 
we have formed our outline of the whole, although it 
would probably take years of labour and research to 
get within measurable distance of being able to fill 
in the details. 
Having noted the changes in the seedling from 
autumn to spring, let us take an early opportunity 
of digging up a plant in March or April, and, confining 
ourselves in this chapter to the roots and leaves, let 
us find out, so far as we can, how they do their work. 
The reader will doubtless remember that they are 
concerned especially, although in different ways, with 
respiration and nutrition, and consequently with 
growth too, for that depends upon and is the result 
of adequate nutrition. 
In addition to anchoring the plant in the soil, 
the root takes up water, wherein are dissolved not only 
oxygen, which is essential for respiration, but also 
various mineral salts, which are indispensable for 
food manufacture. 
The seedling in the illustration, taken at random 
