A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A PLANT 19 



the plant firmly in the ground, and to convey the 

 food collected by the root hairs up to the stem and 

 leaves. The extreme tips of all the roots are pro- 

 vided with a cap, formed of a mass of dead and 

 dying cells, and the meaning of this cap is to protect 

 the tender point of the root as it forces its v^ay 

 through the soil. 



It is highly important for the gardener to knov^ 

 and realise that it is not the large, woody roots 

 that absorb food from the soil, but the fine root 

 hairs. For instance, if a gardener plants a rose, 

 or a fruit tree, with only a few large roots, such a 

 plant or tree cannot get any nourishment from the 

 soil, until it has had time to make new root hairs to 

 collect the food; therefore, until this has happened, 

 the tree is in great danger of starving and dying. 

 The root hairs emit a dissolving fluid which pre- 

 pares the food for absorption, and it is only when 

 there are plenty of healthy root hairs, able to carry 

 out this function, that plants can obtain their food 

 from the soil. 



This is the reason for being so very careful, in 

 moving plants, always to transplant with a good 

 ball of soil, then the root hairs are less likely to be 

 injured, and there is much less check to the tree. 



l^he raw food J absorbed by the roots, is conveyed 

 through the wood fibre and vessels of the stem, 

 right up to the leaves, where, under the action of 

 sunlight, it is manufactured into the finished 

 material, which is then again conducted back 

 through the sieve tubes of the stem to form new 

 tissues, new shoots, and new roots. The proto- 

 plasm of the cells acts as a kind of magnet, drawing 

 the liquid food from cell to cell as it is required. 



