352 



On the Roots of Plants. 



Vol. IV. 



tides on subjects of such vital importance, 

 ■would be worth all the books that have been 

 written on those above-mentioned, and others 

 like them ; and I am mistaken if farmers 

 would not be found to enter warmly into 

 them, if they were given in a way so as to 

 show that they were the production of one 

 who knew and understood the business in 

 which he was engaged. — Yes, I believe in 

 my heart we are wrong in the article of 

 rotation of crops, and perhaps in other arti- 

 cles also, and I, for one, shall be most will- 

 ing to be set right, by any one who is com- 

 petent to direct me; but the writers on the 

 subject of the cultivation of the sugar beet, 

 and such like simple matters, are my abhor- 

 rence. 



JnO. TlGLEY. 

 May 31st, 1840. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 On the Roots of Plants. 



Sir, — I find in a very interesting and scarce 

 work on agriculture, the following remarks 

 on the roots of plants ; and although the 

 work is an English publication, yet the prin- 

 ciples which it teaches are not confined to 

 any one country, soil, or set of circumstances, 

 but are as applicable to this country as to 

 any other ; and I should therefore wish to see 

 them re-published in the pages of the Cabi- 

 net, convinced that they will add much to 

 our stock of information on that important 

 subject. With best wishes for the success 

 of your valuable work, I am, your 



Constant Reader. 



Delaware County. 



"To give life and motion to the seeds of 

 plants, a certain portion of water and of oxy- 

 gen or vital air, and a degree of heat of about 

 50° Fahrenheit, is necessary. A seed being 

 placed in the earth under these circumstances, 

 it immediately absorbs moisture, and gradu- 

 ally swells to the extent of its shell or skin, 

 when the radicle or first root protrudes itself. 

 and in whatever position the seed be placed, 

 assumes a perpendicular direction, and gra- 

 dually makes its way doivmvards into the 

 soil ; and the germen also assumes a perpen- 

 dicular position, and grows upwards. A 

 great number of experiments have been made 

 to ascertain the peculiar principles which in- 

 fluence and give direction to the first rudi- 

 ments of plants ; but whether the first incli- 

 nations of a ])lant be considered as instinctive, 

 or whether, l)y the influence of any peculiar 

 principle, the root is impelled forward into 

 the earth, is of trilling importance to tiH> 

 practical agriculturist; and wliether it may 

 be accounted for on the principles of gravi- 



tation or attraction, it is not necessary to dis- 

 cuss. 



As the branches of a tree are formed by a 

 very tender and succulent point pushing up- 

 wards into the air, so the root penetrates 

 downwards into the earth; but as it has to 

 make its way through the pores, or between 

 the particles composing the soil it is planted 

 in, which is often close and tenacious, its 

 first projecting points are wisely adapted to 

 the purpose, by being much more minute 

 and compilable, which enables it to advance 

 almost as readily as water. After a root has 

 effected a passage, it is endowed with con- 

 siderable expansive and repulsive powers, 

 and is thereby enabled to make its way by 

 pushing off on all sides the encumbering soil. 

 When the soil is but partially submissive, 

 the root accommodates itself to the cavity, 

 admitting its increase, however rugged and 

 irregular. Roots are, notwithstanding, im- 

 patient of resistance, and at all times evince 

 a partiality for that soil which is most ac- 

 commodating, and run most evenly and luxu- 

 riantly where they meet with the least resist- 

 ance and the greatest supply of nutriment. 



The office of the root is to collect and sup- 

 ply the food which forms and determines the 

 future plant and its produce, and the consti- 

 tution and habits of the roots determine those 

 of the stalk, branches and leaves; and if the 

 roots grow luxuriantly, the branches will do 

 so likewise. 



A variety of means have been resorted to 

 by phytologists to discover and ascertain the 

 construction and principles of action of the 

 roots of plants, and as various and contradic- 

 tory have been their opinions and representa- 

 tions ; but in the material point, all agree: 

 and the most minute examination by the 

 most powerful microscope confirms the fact, 

 that the food of plants can only be taken up 

 by the roots in a state of solution in water, 

 or suspended in a state of division, so minute 

 as to be equal to a solution. 



In a deep tenacious soil or clay, roots can 

 only find a free passage through fissures or 

 clefts, which are formed by its occasional 

 contraction ; and as tiiese openings are not 

 very numerous or close together, the roots 

 do not divide much, or become fibrous; but 

 those which strike into them, range wide 

 and deep, and getting beyond the general in- 

 fluence of the sun and air, collect their food 

 or sap from a source ill adapted to fructifica- 

 tion; and consequently, plants under such 

 circumstances, are generally found to be of 

 a cold, aqueous, unhealthy and unprolific na- 

 ture : while on the contrary, when a soil is 

 light, ])orous and shallow, the roots, meeting 

 no obstruction, divide and form a great num- 

 ber of fibres, which, ranging horizontally, 

 and being more exposed to the effect of sun 



