18 MEADOWS AND PASTURES 



glass that comes in contact with their roots, dissolving it 

 to obtain their building material. Grasses have great 

 power of absorbing whatever fertilizing materials there 

 may be in the soil. Their roots cluster thick wherever 

 there is food, finding any decaying material in the soil 

 and nesting there in multitudes. There seems indeed a 

 subtle intelligence in nature; it is almost as though the 

 grass roots were alive, for they seem to seek out and find 

 the desirable feeding places in the soil. The fact prob- 

 ably is that they penetrate nearly every crevice in the 

 soil, but unless they find nourishment they do not thicken 

 and increase. The way grass roots, find their way through 

 the soil is interesting. The tip of a growing root has 

 a constant motion to each side, so that as it pushes for- 

 ward it feels its way, entering every open channel. 



This explanation explains only in part, for the fact is 

 that the roots of a plant persist in keeping a more or 

 less direct course away from the stem, spreading in 

 every direction much as the branches do above ground. 

 Were there not some subtle intelligence in nature the 

 roots would double back on themselves and tangle inex- 

 tricably. They very fully occupy the soil and to far 

 greater depth than is often supposed, especially if the 

 subsoil happens to be permeable and fertile. This ex- 

 plains why underdrainage helps grasslands and why 

 grasses so thoroughly use up soil moisture during periods 

 of drouth. 



Plants absorb the moisture and available plant food of 

 the soil, having also the power to dissolve locked-up, min- 

 eral plant food. Therq are four elements that the plants 

 mainly need in soils, (the others usually being in plenti- 



