28 



AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 



FIG. 17. A SLICE OF 

 A ROOT 



Highly magnified 



inch. Fig. 17 shows a cross section, or sliced-off portion 

 of a root, very highly magnified. You can see how the 

 root hairs extend from the root in every direction. Fig. 1 8 

 shows a single root hair very greatly 

 enlarged, with particles of sand 

 sticking to it. 



These hairs are the root's feeding 

 organs, and they are formed only 

 very near the tips of the finest roots. 

 You see that the large, coarse roots 

 that you are familiar with have 

 nothing to do with absorbing plant 

 food from the soil. They serve merely 

 to conduct the sap and nourishment 

 from the root hairs to the tree. 

 When you apply manure or other fertil- 

 izer to the tree, remember that it is far 

 better to supply the fertilizer to the roots 

 that are at some distance from the trunk, 

 for such roots are the real feeders. The 

 plant food in the manure soaks into the 

 soil and immediately reaches the root hairs. 

 You can understand this better by study- 

 ing the distribution of the roots of an 

 orchard tree, shown in Fig. 19. There 

 you can see that the fine tips are found 

 at a long distance from the main trunk. 



You can now readily see why it is that 

 plants usually wilt when they are transplanted. The fine, 

 delicate root hairs are then broken off, and the plant can 

 keep up its food and water supply but poorly until new hairs 



FIG. 18. A ROOT 

 HAIR WITH PAR- 

 TICLES OF SOIL 

 STICKING TO IT 



