PAET III 

 MICEOBES OF THE FARM 



CHAPTER XXVIII 

 THE GROWING PLANT 



THE Plant enjoys a kind of life as real as that 

 enjoyed by the Animal. To support its life, the 

 Plant takes food as really as does the Animal. 



The Plant, like the Animal, has special organs 

 for taking food, special organs for digestion, for 

 circulation, for assimilation. 



The sources of plant food are twofold, the Soil 

 and the Air. 



Corn is planted in the soil. It germinates. One 

 sprout grows downward, Fig. 63, seeking moisture 

 and food from the soil. The other grows upward, 

 seeking the sunlight, moisture and food from the 

 air. 



As the plant becomes more and more developed, 

 the downward sprout divides and subdivides, Fig. 

 64, and these subdivisions divide and subdivide 

 again and again, until a comparatively large mass 

 of soil, directly beneath the plant, becomes a com- 

 plete network of roots and rootlets. All these thou- 

 sands of minute organs act as so many mouths 



105 



