76 The Root 



down about 1 inch from the top of the tumbler and 

 between it and the blotting paper. The paper is kept 

 moist by pouring a little water into the bottom of the 

 tumbler.) A geranium cutting taken in October. (These 

 cuttings should be about 3 in. long when taken, and 

 should be cut sharply through just below a joint. They 

 must be placed in pots or well drained boxes containing 

 sandy garden soil (about 2 parts soil and 1 sand) and 

 must be sheltered from the frost during the winter 

 months. They want little or no watering.) The cuttings 

 must be well washed to free their roots from soil. If 

 they have not been specially arranged for, they can 

 probably be bought from a florist. A broad bean 

 placed a fortnight ago in a test-tube of water, as 

 directed in Chapter IV. A small drawing board. 

 Sheet of drawing paper. Drawing pins. 2 yards of 

 clothes line rope. Tumbler (or test-tube) of water. Cork. 

 Pins. 



Now that we have spoken of the processes by which 

 a tree lives, we will consider the parts of the tree in 

 turn and see how Nature has suited them for the work 

 they have to do, and how they vary in different trees so 

 as to accommodate themselves to the conditions under 

 which the tree lives. 



A tree's root has two important parts to play : In 

 the first place, as we saw in the last chapter, it supplies 

 the tree with the water so necessary to its existence 

 and with minerals dissolved in it. Our seedling oak 

 tree showed us how smaller roots grow from the sides 

 of the main root and then still smaller ones from these. 

 In a young tree the rootlets grow quite regularly to 

 begin with, but, later on, outside influences interfere in 



