A'OO'/S 67 



journe}'s in the railw ay train. I have been told that 

 mistletoe is sufficiently abinulant t(j be used in 

 Xorinandy as cattle-food. 



if a mistletoe-berry is gentl}' pressed u|j(in a 

 youn;^ branch of an apple-tree, its (jun \iscifl juice 

 will cause it to adhere, and before loni,^ it germi- 

 nates and sends its roots into the tissues of the tree; 

 as it grows, it fuses with them, and deri\es all its 

 root nourishment from the substances in the branch. 

 Of coiu'se the tree is weakened by this parasite, the 

 suckiuL; roots ol' which disturb the flow of the sap; 

 woody knots are apt to form, and not unfrequently 

 the branch is killed bv' the intruder which has 

 fastened upon it. 



Having" touched upon the four princif^al kinds (jf 

 njots, we \\ill now take a single root-fibre and 

 examine it more close!)'. It seems scarcely possible 

 that such a brittle, feeble thread should be able to 

 penetrate into the ground and make its way 

 amongst stones and sharp-edged fragments of earth 

 without being bruised or torn. The chief friction is 

 borne by the growing-point, and this alwajs has for 

 its protection a ro(jt-cap; the section of the growing- 

 point of root-fibre gi\en in the [)late shows the outer 



