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AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURE, 



botanists) comes up out of the soil. At the same time 

 rootlets, the radicles (d) are developing underground. All 

 new plants spring from seed, and the seed must be sufficiently 

 sound and matured to nourish the young plant to the stage 

 described, whether it be the seed of a tiny daisy or the 

 beginning of a huge gum tree. 



Leaf Growth. When the seed is right and its sur- 

 roundings healthy for plant life, 

 leaf growth follows the appear- 

 ance of the plumule (a) above 

 ground. Leaves (b d) are of many 

 kinds, some long, some short, 

 some oval, some round, some with 

 saw-like edges, some are quite 

 smooth and plain, and each form 

 has its name in botany, and can 

 be identified anywhere. But 

 all leaves have the same work to 

 do there is work for all useful 

 life. The leaves are the lungs of 

 plants. It may seem strange, but the bulk of the solid 



Development of Leaf Growth. 



Breathing Pores of Leaf. Leaf Breathing. 



matter of plants, the stems, timber, and bark, from wheat 

 to oak trees, is supplied through the leaves. For the air 

 supplies most of the solid food material of plants. What a 

 great garden ground is thus opened up for the inquirer ! 



Flowers Tell Something. What hosts of flowering 

 plants we can see ! Annuals, bulbs, climbers, roses, fruit 

 trees, grasses. Those that flower are by far the most 

 numerous. And the colours tell a good deal concerning 

 odours and scents. The pinks, red and white, smell most 



