years later, /earing Japanese 

 designs, he sent the American fleet 

 round the world as a demonstra- ' 

 tion of force. At home, meanwhile, 

 he continued his war on the im- 

 moral alliance of the political 

 machines and great financial in- 

 terests, and initiated a movement 

 for the conservation of the natural 

 resources of the country. Refusing 

 a third presidential term, he pro- 

 cured the election of William 

 Howard Taft as his successor, and 

 departed in 1909 on a scientific 

 hunting trip in East Africa. 



President Taft's policy, how- 

 ever, so dissatisfied Col. Roosevelt 

 that he broke openly with him and 

 formed the Progressive, or Bull 

 Moose party. He ran as its presi- 

 dential candidate in 1912; he was 

 unsuccessful, but brought about 

 Taft's overwhelming defeat. In 

 1913 Roosevelt went exploring in 

 Brazil ; he discovered the Dubida 

 river, but seriously impaired his 

 health. His four sons went to the 

 front in the Great War, one being 

 killed. He died unexpectedly, 

 Jan. 6, 1919. 



Few men filled a larger sphere in 

 their generation than Theodore 

 Roosevelt His intense American- 

 ism, his marvellous vitality, his 

 supreme self-confidence, his real 

 sympathy for the underdog, made 

 him popular at home and carried 

 his fame abroad. Nevertheless, 

 he showed little conception of the 

 vast social changes on the eve of 

 which he lived. He never tackled 

 the underlying problems of the 

 United States the tariff, currency 

 reform, or the labour question. 

 But one distinguished service he 

 rendered was to awaken Americans 

 to their true international position. 

 He built up the U.S. navy, and wa.= 



6695 



the first president to make his 

 country felt all over the world. 



As a memorial the house in New 

 York where he was born is to be 

 used as a school of civics. His works 

 include Hunting Trips of a Ranch- 

 man, 1886; American Ideals and 

 other Essays, 1897 ; The Rough 

 Riders, 1899 ; African Game 

 Trails, 1910 ; Theodore Roosevelt, 

 an Autobiography, 1913 ; and The 

 Great Adventure, 1919. See Theo- 

 dore Roosevelt, the Man and the 

 Citizen, J. A. Riis, 1904 ; Theodore 

 Roosevelt, the Logic of his Career, 

 C. G. Washburn, 1916 ; Lives, N. 

 M. Butler, 1919; W. D. Lewis, 

 1919 ; W. R. Thayer, 1919. 



It. R. Holme 



Root. Lower extremity of the 

 main stem in higher plants. Its 

 beginnings are evident, usually, in 

 the seed, where the embryo has 

 two poles, one ascending and be- 

 coming the shoot, the other de- 

 scending and becoming the primary 

 root. Its functions are two-fold 

 it anchors the plant in the ground, 

 and absorbs from the soil water in 

 which mineral salts are dissolved. 



The growing point is protected 

 from injury in its passage through 

 the soil by a sheath of cells (root- 

 cap) constantly renewed from 

 within. The sensitive root-tip is 

 geotropic and hydrotropic ; its 

 general course is straight down, 

 but its hydrotropism may induce 

 it to turn aside to water. The root 

 branches laterally, but the branch 

 roots have a more horizontal 

 orientation with a tendency to grow 

 away from the main or tap root 

 (exotropism). As these lateral 

 branches are produced on all sides 

 of the root and themselves branch, 

 a considerable area of soil may be 

 explored for food by one plant 



"' ; '' ; 



Root. Method of pruning roots of fruit trees. 1. Diagram showing how 



roots grow. 2. Shortening tap root of young tree. 3. Trench dug round 



older trees to permit of pruning their roots 



ROOT 



If a stone or other obstacle checks 

 the onward growth of a root, the 

 tip works around it and then re- 

 sumes its former course. The food 

 collection is accomplished by 

 abundant single-celled root-hairs 

 situated near the tip. In many 

 trees and other plants, however, 

 this function is performed by a 

 friendly fungus (Mycorkiza), which 

 supplies the plant with the products 

 of decayed organic material. The 

 root increases in thickness in pro- 

 portion to the growth of the stem. 

 In many plants the roots become 

 reservoirs for the storage of reserve 

 materials to bridge over the dry 

 season or the cold season, and 

 enable the plant to make a fresh 

 start with full vigour in the wet 

 season or the spring. Man has 

 utilised this tendency by selection 

 and produced the abnormally 

 succulent roots of the carrot, par- 

 snip, turnip, mangold, etc. 



Root pruning is a horticultural 

 operation practised upon young 

 trees, usually fruit trees, which have 

 produced a great deal of stem and 

 leaf, but few fruit buds. The young 

 trees should be lifted up cleanly 

 out of the ground and the tap root 

 removed with the pruning knife, or 

 secateur. Heavy gross wood can 

 be cut away freely, but the young 

 shoots should be spared as far as 

 possible. In root-pruning large, 

 established trees, the usual method 

 is to trench all round the tree and 

 then lever it upwards, until the tap 

 root can be cut off and woody 

 laterals shortened. The vacant 

 space thus left at the base of the 

 severed root is filled with good loam 

 and well-rotted manure, the tree 

 is returned to its original position, 

 and the trench filled in. 



ROOT CROPS. Before the in- 

 troduction of 

 the turnip into 

 agriculture, land 

 was allowed to re- 

 main in a fallow 

 state, i.e. without a 

 crop, at regular in- 

 tervals, partly to 

 allow of thorough 

 cleaning. But the 

 invention of drill- 

 ing by Jethro Tull allowed of 

 tillage between the rows for clean- 

 ing purposes, while by growing tur- 

 nips or an equivalent, not only was 

 the productivity of the land in- 

 creased, but food provided for 

 winter stock, and the necessity 

 for living on salted meat obviated. 

 Such a crop is often known as a 

 fallow crop, because it takes the 

 place of the old bare fallow. The 

 term root crop is not only applied 

 to turnips, swedes, mangolds, 

 sugar beets, carrots, and parsnips, 

 where the part harvested is actually 



