PROPAGATION OF PLANTS. 



CHAPTEK I. 

 PROPAGATION OF PLANTS. 



For all practical purposes, the single individual plant- 

 cell may be considered as the unit of vegetable organism. 

 These minute individual cells contain a vital principle 

 called life, which may be defined as a force, possessing 

 an aptitude to respond to a stimulus. 



It is the same in animals as in plants so long as they 

 remain in their embryonic stages, but soon in the former 

 energy, a condition of consciousness is delevoped. The egg 

 of an insect, bird or other oviparous animal is a complex 

 living organism, but it cannot in truth be said to possess 

 consciousness, or be aware of its own existence; still, it 

 responds to the stimulus (heat), energy is developed, and 

 consciousness follows in succeeding stages. Seeds of 

 plants respond to the same stimulus, the young plantlet 

 absorbing nutriment from surrounding elements; and 

 while it may not be conscious of the act, it possesses an 

 inherent vital principle which enables it to reject certain 

 substances and select others for its own use. 



But as man has not as yet been able to analyze this 

 vital principle which we term life, or trace it this 

 mysterious force manifested in matter to its source, hor- 

 (11) 



