A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A PLANT 25 



chlorophyll grains and the liquid cell contents. 

 This is what happens in the autumn: When the 

 green pigment or colouring matter breaks up and 

 leaves behind the yellow granules, then many of 

 the materials in the leaf, including starch, gradually 

 recede along the leaf-stalks into the twigs, and 

 here they stay, and are ready for use in the following 

 spring. 



But in the oak and beech this process does not 

 go on so extensively as in most other trees; the food 

 materials do not recede from the leaves before they 

 fall, and that is why their leaves are so much richer 

 and more valuable as fertilisers. 



Gardeners always prefer leaf soil which is com- 

 posed of oak and beech leaves in preference to 

 that of any other tree, as experience shows them 

 that these leaves give the best results. 



All these instances should show very clearly the 

 need there is for a close union between horticulture 

 and botany. Every gardener should be something 

 of a botanist, and try to learn a little of the structure, 

 anatomy, and physiology of the plant; otherwise 

 he is working in the dark, and cannot feel the same 

 interest in all the little details of ordinary, every- 

 day gardening. One is continually coming across 

 little gems of scientific knowledge that help very 

 materially in the cultivation of plants and their 

 successful treatment. 



There is any amount of lesearch work waiting to 

 be done in the gardening world, and plenty of 

 unexplored fields await our efforts, in the raising 

 of new varieties and improving existing ones, both 

 in the fruit and vegetable kingdom, to say nothing 

 of the flowers. 



