GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 



parts of fruit-trees, and the names by which each is 

 known in practice. 



SECTION 1. THE ROOT. 



THE ROOT is composed of several parts. 

 1st. The collar (A, fig. 1), which is the center of 

 growth, or point of union be- 

 tween the root and stem, usu- 

 ally at or just below the surface 

 of the ground. In root grafting 

 seedlings, this is the point where 

 the graft is set. 



2d. The body or main root 

 (J5, fig. 1), which usually pene- 

 trates the earth in a vertical di- 

 rection, and decreases in size as 

 it proceeds downwards from the 

 collar. It is also called the tap- 

 root. A seedling that has not 

 been transplanted has usually 

 but one descending or tap-root, 

 furnished, in all its length, with 

 minute hairy fibres. 



3d. The lateral roots (C, fig. 

 1) are principal divisions or 

 branches of the main root, and 

 take more or less of a spreading 

 or horizontal direction. When 

 seedlings are transplanted, a por- 

 tion of the tap-root is cut off, and 

 these lateral, or side roots, are 

 immediately formed. 



4th. The fibres or rootlets (Z>, fig. 1) are the minute 

 hair-like roots which we see most abundant on trees that 

 have been frequently transplanted. Difterent species of 



Fig. 1. A TREE. 

 A, the Collar ; B, the Main Root ; 

 C, Lateral Root ; Z>, Fibres ; E, 

 Stem, or Trunk ; ^,Main Branch- 

 es ; G, Secondary Branches ; H, 

 Shoots of one year's growth. 



