A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A PLANT 23 



There are still a few old-fashioned countryfolk 

 who believe in always cutting their cabbages and 

 lettuces either last thing at night or else at dawn 

 in the very early morning. 



They will tell you that they are more crisp and 

 tender before the sun is on them. This is quite 

 true, and it is a fact that they are also sweeter, and 

 when the physiology of the plant is studied then 

 light breaks in, and a reason dawns for what would 

 otherwise appear to be mere superstition. 



We turn the light of science on these " old-wives' 

 fables " and smile no longer, for we find that in 

 spite of some superstition and legendary magic, 

 much of the solid gold of truth remains. 



This work of seizing upon a raw gas and con- 

 verting it into food can only be performed by 

 plants; no part of an animal or human being can 

 perform these functions; it is a special prerogative 

 of plant life. 



Day and night there is always some useful work 

 going on in some part of the plant, with never a 

 complaint, all done silently and quickly, with no 

 words, no fuss, and no bother. 



During the night-time the green part of the plant 

 performs an exactly opposite process to that of the 

 day. During the day it breathes out oxygen and 

 takes in CO2, but at night-time this process is 

 reversed, and the plant breathes after the manner 

 of human beings, taking in oxygen and giving out 

 CO2. 



Therefore, on account of this, some people say, 

 and firmly believe, that it is most unhealthy to sleep 

 with a plant or flowers in one's room. But as it 

 would take pretty well a whole conservatory of 



