SEEDLINGS 



grows. So the root-hairs that came out first have another 

 use ; they unite their part of the root firmly with the soil, 

 and as the growing part lengthens, it, too, sends out hairs 

 to anchor it, as well as to supply water. A great English 

 naturalist, Darwin, found out some wonderful things about 

 the sturdy little root- tips. They are really pioneers and 

 explorers, for they have the power of moving in little 

 circles as they are pushed on by the growing part, and they 

 are also sensitive to hard substances and to moisture ; so 

 they are actually able to avoid many dangerous or difficult 

 places, and to pilot the growing root into the very best 

 places for moisture and food. 



Take a corn seedling that has been growing for a 

 month or so, remove it from the soil without breaking any 

 of the roots, if possible, and measure the length of all the 

 roots on a string. Now remember, that every root is 

 clothed with root-hairs, and through these thousands of 

 absorbing cells, your seedling has been taking in water. 

 With the water enters what is dissolved in it, and the plants 

 really require much of this dissolved matter. The gas, 

 nitrogen, which is necessary for making protoplasm, is 

 prepared in the soil so that it can be carried up the plant 

 by the water ; the soil also supplies necessary minerals, 

 such as iron and sulphur. 



But all this raw material must be worked over into 

 organic plant food, and, as we learned from the water-net, 

 the food-making must begin where there is chlorophyll and 

 sunlight, that is, above ground. The path by which this 

 raw material travels up to the workshops, can be easily 

 shown by putting a seedling in water colored with red ink. 

 Soon you will see the red fluid creeping up the woody 

 strands or veins that run through the leaves. By cutting 

 thin slices of root and stem, you will see that the fluid here, 

 too, ascends through woody fibres. You remember that the 

 water-net was made up of cells. So are all plants. The 



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