404 PLANT PECULIARITIES 



Plant life itself remains a mystery. The poet Tenny- 

 son has given expression to the thoughts of those who 

 have tried in vain to solve the many problems which have 

 arisen in connection with the study of plant life. 



" Flower in the crannied wall, 

 I pluck you out of your crannies. 

 I hold you here in iny hand, 

 Little flower, root and all. 

 But if I could understand 

 What you are, little flower, 

 Root and all, and all in all, 

 I should know what God and man is." 



LABORATORY 



To show the response of stems 1 to" gravity, place seedlings or young 

 plants in unnatural positions and note their effort to right themselves. 

 To show the response to light, examine a potato from a dark cellar, which 

 has sprouted in the spring ; a plant that has been allowed to grow towards 

 the light in a window ; the bending of seedlings, and the like. For the 

 storage of food, examine all the common garden vegetables and test them 

 for the food which they contain. If possible, find some vegetables which 

 have been kept for two seasons and have produced seed, and note their 

 appearance after all the food has been used. 



Sprout slips of balsam, geranium, and ivy to get adventitious roots. 

 Show such roots on the stem of a tomato plant where it has been allowed 

 to lie on the ground. 



Examine leaves in the laboratory and in the fields to find illustrations 

 of all the terms used. Examine onions and cabbages for example of 

 leaves modified for storage, and the onion also as an example of a re- 

 duced stem. Find examples of all the terms used in the discussion of 

 flowers and buds. 



