ROOT 



6696 



ROOT'S BLOWER 



a root, but also to potatoes, which 

 are tubers, or thickened under- 

 ground stems, and to such things 

 as rape, kohl rabi, or field cabbages, 

 which occupy the same place in a 

 rotation. The American term in- 

 tertillage crop is all-inclusive, and 

 is therefore strictly accurate. 



Root crops are also advantage- 

 ous in giving full employment to 

 labour at times when it would 

 otherwise be slack, and in affording 

 the opportunity for maintaining the 

 fertility of the land by the applica- 

 tion of heavy dressings of manure. 

 The work begins as soon as harvest 

 is over, is followed by winter and 

 spring ploughing, and afterwards 

 by the preparation of a seed-bed 

 and the sowing of the crop, during 

 the growth of which singling and in- 

 tcrtillage make further demands on 

 labour. See Agriculture; Botany; 

 Crops ; Plant. 



Root. In philology, that part of 

 a word which remains after it has 

 been stripped of everything forma- 

 tive and Accidental. Take the word 

 " examination," from Lat. exami- 

 nationem, accusative of examinatio, 

 the verbal noun of examinare. 

 Examin- is from exa(g)men, the 

 scale of a balance (exigere, to weigh 

 out), and contains the suffix -men 

 (seen in English acumen, regimen) 

 and the prefix ex-, out. Remove 

 these and -ag- remains. This is the 

 root, the original idea of which was 

 " driving." Roots have no inde- 

 pendent existence, and probably 

 do not constitute the beginnings of 

 language, but are convenient labels 

 under which to classify derivatives. 

 See Philology ; Place Names. 



Root. In mathematics, a 

 quantity which when multiplied 

 by itself a requisite number of times 

 produces a given expression. Thus 

 the square root of a number is such 

 that when multiplied by itself it 

 gives that number. The values 

 of the unknowns which satisfy an 

 equation are called the roots of the 

 equation. 



Root, ELIHU (b. 1845). Ameri- 

 can statesman. Bora at Clinton, 

 New York, Feb. 15, 1845, he 

 graduated at 

 Hamilton Col- 

 lege in 1864, 

 and was called 

 to the New 

 York bar three 

 years later. 

 U.S. district at- 

 torney at New 

 York, 1883-85, 

 he was pro- 

 minent in the 

 legal and political world. As secre- 

 tary of war in McKinley's cabinet, 

 1899-1904, he reorganized the war 

 department and introduced several 

 reforms into the army. Under 



Elihn Root, 

 American statesman 



Roosevelt, Root was secretary of 

 state, 1905-9, serving as senator 

 from the latter year until 1915. In 

 1910 he was appointed member 

 of The Hague tribunal, being 

 awarded the Nobel peace prize in 

 1912. In 1917 he went to Russia 

 at the head of a diplomatic mission. 



At different times Root sat on 

 many important commissions and 

 tribunals, including the Alaskan 

 Boundary tribunal, 1903, and The 

 Hague tribunal of arbitration be- 

 tween Britain, France, Spain, and 

 Portugal concerning church pro- 

 perty, 1913. Chairman of the 

 Republican convention of 1912, he 

 refused nomination for the presi- 

 dency. As an international jurist, 

 he had much to do with setting up 

 the permanent Court of Justice 

 under the League of Nations. 



Root and Branch Men. Name 

 applied to those members of the 

 English Parliament who favoured 

 the policy of destroying episcopacy 

 root and branch in 1640-41. A 

 petition to this effect was signed by 

 15,000 citizens of London and pre- 

 sented to Parliament, Dec. 11, 

 1640. A bill on these lines was after- 

 wards introduced, but eventually 

 it was dropped. Leading root and 

 branch men were Henry Vane, 

 John Hampden, and Nathaniel 

 Fiennes. 



Root Cutter. Implement for 

 slicing roots. Roots are sometimes 

 sliced up as well as cleaned by 

 hand. But it is usual to employ a 

 root cutter if slices or fingers are 

 wanted, and a pulper when shreds 

 are to be prepared, as, more par- 

 ticularly, for sheep and lambs. The 

 well-known Gardner turnip cutter 

 has a horizontally revolving drum, 

 made in two sections, bearing ob- 

 liquely stepped cutting edges. A 

 modification of this produces slices 

 or fingers at will. The cutting part 

 of a pulper consists of a vertical 

 disk bearing shredding knives. 



Roothing OR RODING. Name of 

 eight parishes of Essex. Situated 

 between Ongar and Dunmow, they 

 are Abbots or Abbess Roothing, 

 Aythorpe Roothing, Beauchamp 

 Roothing, Berners Ruothing, High 

 Roothing, Leaden Roothing, Mar- 

 garet Roothing, which has a 

 Norman church, and White Rooth- 

 ing, which includes the hamlet of 

 Morrell Roothing, an ancient 

 church and a picturesque Tudor 

 house, Colville Hall. The Roothings 

 take their name from the river 

 Roding (q.v. ). 



Root Parasites. Plants which 

 attach themselves to the roots of 

 other plants, from which they ab- 

 sorb water and food. Some of these, 

 like toothwort (Lathraea) and 

 broom rape (Orobanche), separately 

 described, are total parasites, ob- 



taining the whole of their nourish- 

 ment in this way, and therefore 

 producing no true leaves. Others, 



Root Parasites. Toothwort, Lathraea 

 squamaria. a leafless root parasite 



like eyebright (Euphrasia), rattle 

 (Rhinanthus and Barlsia), louse- 

 wort (Pedicular is), and cow-wheat 

 (Melampyrum), are partial para- 

 sites, obtaining only crude fluid 

 from their hosts and elaborating it 

 in their leaves. 



Root's Blower. Machine for 

 providing air blast, or forcing gas 

 or air under pressure through pipes. 

 It was first constructed by P. H. 

 and F. M. Root, of the U.S.A., 

 and introduced into Great Britain 

 about 1860. It takes a place be- 

 tween the fan and the blowing 

 engine (<J-v.), and will efficiently 

 deliver considerable volumes of air 

 at moderate pressures. It consists 

 of two arms with parallel axles, 

 enclosed in a casing which they fit 

 as closely as practicable and in 



Root's Blower. Diagram of the 

 machine. A A 1 . Revolving arms. 

 B B 1 . Driving wheels. C. Driving 

 pulley. D. Air inlet. E. Air outlet 



