163 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 



tions, in order that advantage may be taken of every 

 drop of moisture which falls in their neighbourhood. 

 Nor is it merely in the number of minute fibres that 

 the roots of plants growing in sand differ from those 

 which inhabit the stiffer soils. The form of the body 

 of the root is distinct : thus, nearly all bulbous and 

 other large succulent roots as the turnip, for exam- 

 ple require sandy soil ; and, moreover, some plants, 

 as that species of grass named Phleum pratense 

 (meadow cat's-tail, or timothy grass), change the 

 form of the root according to the soil they inhabit. 

 In stiff clays, the plant just mentioned has a fibrous 

 root, whereas in sand it becomes bulbous, and as- 

 sumes all the characters of Phleum nodosum. The 

 explanation here is as evident as in the former case. 

 The bulbs of the roots act as reservoirs of food for 

 the plant : thus, in very dry seasons, these bums 

 shrivel up, their fluids being all needed, by the rest of 

 the plant, and hence withdrawn. So beautifully do 

 we perceive in this, as in all other cases, that design 

 and adaptation of means to specific purposes, which 

 must impress even the most skeptical with the ab- 

 solute existence of a Great First Cause. Maiden, 



EXTENT OF THE ROOTS OF PLANTS. 



Roots perform a double office to plants : they 

 serve as braces to keep them in an upright position, 

 and they are purveyors to supply them with food 

 suitable to their growth and maturity. To enable 

 them to perform these offices well, three requisites 

 in the soil are essential. First, it is important that 

 the soil be mellow, that the roots may penetrate it 

 freely, not only to strengthen their bracing power, 

 but to extend their range for food, this being absorb- 

 ed or taken up by the spongioles or extreme points ; 

 and the greater their range the more abundant the 

 food which they supply. Secondly, it is important 

 that this food be in the soil, in a soluble state ; that 

 is, in a condition to be dissolved by, and incorporated 



