Plant: An Organized Vegetable Stt^ucture 13 



So important is the soil that success or failure de- 

 pends upon the gardener's industry and skill in its 

 management. 



PLANTS 



It is not enough that the gardener should acquaint 

 himself with the needs of the soil which he cultivates, 

 and learn how most effectively and economically to 

 supply them, but he must become thoroughly familiar 

 with the peculiar characteristics and requirements of 

 every species of the plants he cultivates. This can be 

 learned bj' personal contact and association, accompanied 

 with a close and critical study of the life -history of the 

 plant from the germination of the seed on through its 

 life history, including its feeding and growth, to its 

 completed reproduction. 



WHAT IS A PLANT ? 



An approximately complete answer to this question 

 as regards flowering plants is "An organized vegetable 

 structure having roots, stems and leaves, the destiny of 

 which is to reproduce itself through the agency of flow- 

 ers and seed." All plant -life proceeds from germs or 

 buds. 



The propagation of plants through these agencies 

 involves a most interesting study, which underlies the 

 whole problem of successful agriculture, in which horti- 

 culture is the branch which appeals most closely to the 

 unit of civilized life — the home, and in which each mem- 

 ber of the family is more or less interested. 



