74 Principles of Plant Culture. 



draining if need be, and unless it contains abundant 

 soluble plant food in the aerated part, the roots of 

 plants growing upon it will not branch freely and hence 

 the plants cannot be well nourished. 



105. Transplanting (400) and Root Pruning (416) 

 Stimulate Root Branching. Removing the growing points 

 of either the stem or root (67) stimulates the development 



FIG. 32. Showing effects of transplanting on root growth of celery 

 plants. The left two plants were transplanted when quite small; the 

 right two were not. (After Green.) 



of other growing points farther back. Transplanting or 

 root pruning accomplishes this in the case of roots (Fig. 

 31, p. 73). While these operations may not often increase 

 the total number of root-tips, and hence may not enable the 

 plant to take up a greater amount of nourishment, they 

 do cause the development of a more compact root system, 

 which is of great advantage to young plants grown in 

 the seed-bed or nursery for subsequent transplanting. 



