56 LIFE ON THE FARM. 



quickly, leaving them to wither and die. Hence, 

 plants in different climates and locations so shape 

 their leaves as best to fit them for life and growth 

 under the imposed conditions. 



That leaves do evaporate water may be verified 

 by placing a glass jar over growing leaves. Drops 

 of water can soon be seen collecting on the inside 

 of the vessel. One who has never looked into the 

 matter will be surprised at the very great amount 

 of water evaporated by a single leaf during a day 

 of active life under good growing conditions. The 

 reason that the amount of water evaporated by 

 leaves of plants is not appreciated, is because it 

 passes into the air in the form of an invisible 

 vapor. Knowing, however, that a small potted 

 house plant, with only a few leaves, easily drinks a 

 pint of water each day, it will be readily perceived 

 that, in proportion, many hundreds of pints must be 

 drunk up and given off by the thousands of leaves 

 of some of the larger plants, such as trees. Since 

 the leaves of plants require so much water for 

 evaporation, it is quite essential to cultivate the 

 soil so as to keep as much water as possible in store 

 for them during the growing season. 



HOW LEAVES DECOMPOSE AND REBUILD. 



It has been mentioned that water drunk in by 

 the roots of plants and sent to the leaves, takes 

 certain earthy material in solution with it to be 

 built into the structure of the plant. Water has 



