14 THE GARDEN OF EARTH 



many of us quite realise that, as living things, they 

 breathe, they feed, they work; that they have what 

 seem to be likings and dislikings; that each kind of 

 plant needs a particular sort of place to grow in, and a 

 certain amount of warmth ; that some plants do well in 

 one soil, while others must have a different soil; that 

 the climate which suits one does not suit another. 



All this and much more is true. Plants can be said 

 to sleep and wake. Plants live out their lives, even as 

 we live out our lives. Plants carry on their especial 

 tasks. Plants may have good health or bad health. 

 Plants, in fact, are beings — living creatures. They are 

 a wonderful part of the vast creation of God. And 

 they have a marvellous work to do for Him — and for 

 us. Without plants, without the tasks that they 

 carry out, we ourselves could not live. 



We depend upon them for our daily food. For 

 instance, for our vegetables — for cabbages and cauli- 

 flowers and potatoes; and for far more than these. 

 And they are such good faithful little servants. They 

 do not fail us. We shall hear more about this later. 



Our World is made up of many lesser worlds, which 

 interlace and yet are separate. The World of Mankind ; 

 the World of Animals; these we know. And also the 

 World of Plant-life; the World of Green Things; the 

 vast Vegetable Kingdom. 



We cannot rightly speak of the whole Vegetable 

 Kingdom as a world of green things, because it contains 

 many growths which are not green; such as brown and 

 red seaweeds ; and yellow and grey fungi ; and countless 

 invisible specks of life. But in this book we have to 

 do chiefly with green and flowering plants. 



