ROOT 



5078 



ROPE 



duct of the armies then stationed In Cuba and 

 the Philippines. While Secretary of War he 

 served on the Alaska Boundary Commission (see 

 page 143). 



For a year he practiced law. then in July, 1905. 

 was appointed Secretary of State in the Roose- 

 velt Cabinet, succeeding John Hay. This post 

 was relinquished early in 1909, for he had been 

 elected by the New York legislature as a United 

 States Senator. 



He entered the Senate in March and declared 

 at once his intention not to seek a second term 

 and accordingly returned to private life in 1915. 

 During his term as Senator he was counsel for 

 the United States in the North Atlantic fisheries 

 arbitration (1910) ; was appointed in 1910 as a 

 member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration 

 at The Hague; and in 1913 was made president 

 of the trustees of the Carnegie Institution at 

 Washington. 



The Nobel Prize for Peace for 1912 was 

 awarded Mr. Root (see page 4243). 



His next public service was again international 

 in character. In 1917 he became chairman of 

 an American commission to the new republic of 

 Russia, by appointment of President Wilson. It 

 was the delicate duty of the commission to do all 

 possible to unite the discordant elements of Rus- 

 sia for vigorous prosecution of their part in the 

 War of the Nations, to help organize political 

 and industrial life and to pave the way for such 

 American help as might be required, including 

 heavy financial aid. E.D.F. 



ROOT, GEORGE FREDERICK (1820-1895), an 

 American composer, was born at Sheffield, Mass. 

 He studied music in Boston and in 1844 went 

 to New York City, where for some years he was 

 organist in the Church of the Strangers. In 

 1859 he organized the music-publishing firm of 

 Root & Cady in Chicago, and just after the be- 

 ginning of the War of Secession made a fortune 

 through the publishing of patriotic songs, mostly 

 of his own composition. Among these were 

 Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, the Boys Are Marching, 

 of which more than 500,000 copies were sold, 

 The Battle Cry of Freedom and Just Before the 

 Battle, Mother. His quartette, There's Music 

 in the Air, also gained much popularity. These 

 songs, while not possessing great musical or lit- 

 erary merit, had considerable vigor and came at 

 a time when all efforts to increase American 

 patriotism were cordially welcomed. Among his 

 compositions of a much higher quality were the 

 cantatas The Pilgrim Fathers and Belshazzar's 

 Feast. 



ROOTS constitute one kind of the three 

 vegetative organs essential to plant growth, the 

 others being the stems and the leaves. The 

 chief functions of roots are to hold plants in 

 their places in the soil and to supply them with 

 water. The first formed roots, those that grow 

 directly from the rudimentary stem (see GERMI- 



NATION), are called primary; branches of the 

 primary roots are called secondary, and branches 

 of these, tertiary. Roots which grow on the 

 i or in other unusual places are known as 

 adventitious. In most cases the root system di- 

 vides and subdivides until the smaller rootlets 

 are covered with tiny root hairs. These play an 

 important part in the development of the plant 

 by taking up water from the soil. 



According to the medium in which they grow 

 roots are classified as soil, aerial (or air) and 

 water roots. Air roots are sometimes developed 

 by plants which are anchored in the ground, 

 as in case of the poison ivy, but there are other 

 plants which grow entirely in the air, as many 

 kinds of orchids. The water hyacinth and the 

 floating duckweed are examples of plants that 

 have roots adapted to live in water. Roots that 

 derive nourishment from other plants are call* <1 

 parasitic; such are the roots of the dodder and 

 the mistletoe. 



Roots are also distinguished in regard to form. 

 A primary root which grows to be much larprr 

 than any of its branches is called a taproot, 

 and if this taproot becomes much thickened and 

 develops as a storehouse for nourishment, as in 

 case of the carrot or turnip root, it is said to 

 be fleshy. A cluster of thickened primary roots, 

 such as those produced by the sweet potato and 

 dahlia, would be called fasciled roots. Thread- 

 like roots, such as those of grass, are fibrous. In 

 regard to their length of life roots are classified 

 as annuals, biennials and perennials (terms ex- 

 plained in these volumes under their respective 

 headings). 



Related Subjects. For the picture of a young 

 root system see page 2482, under GERMINATION. 

 On page 1587, in the article CORN, there is a dia- 

 gram showing how roots and their branches 

 penetrate the soil. How roots often grow much 

 farther below ground than the stem does above 

 ground is illustrated under DANDELION, page 

 1698. See also in the article BOTANY pictures 

 of parasitic plants (page 859) and of fleshy roots 

 (page 860). 



ROPE. The distinction between a rope and 

 a cord is in the size alone. The term rope is ap- 

 plied to a cord one or more inches in diameter, 

 and the term cordage to all smaller cords down 

 to the size of binder twine, excepting ropes 

 made of wire. Ropes vary in size from those 

 an inch in diameter to the huge ship cables 

 more than fifteen inches in circumference. 



Hemp, including manila and sisal, also flax, 

 jute, cotton and coir, the latter being the fiber 

 from the husk of the cocoanut, are the materials 

 used in the manufacture of ropes. Manila 



