In Winter Woods 



39' 



from its highest to its lowest point, is enfolded 

 with a si umber- robe of cork, which keeps the vege- 

 table juices in and helps to keep the cold out. 



When spring comes to wake the earth, the deeper 

 layers of soil feel the sweet influence while the 



FIG. 101. Lengthwise section of a root-tip, showing root-hairs. 



(Much magnified ) 

 (From the Vegetable World.) 



surface is still ice-bound. Then the least root-tips, 

 far underground, cast off their slumber-robes and 

 begin to absorb moisture from the soil, which seldom 

 freezes for more than forty inches below the 

 surface, even in the bitterest weather. And all 

 winter, alive but sleeping, a group of active cells 



