Plant -Feeding, Growth, and Reproduction 15 



ing seed after attaining the required age, which differs 

 in different species. Very few garden vegetables are 

 perennial. 



Perennial-rooted plants succumb to frost above 

 ground, the roots living through the winter. The most 

 conspicuous of these among garden vegetables are as- 

 asparagus and horse-radish. 



The artichoke and Irish potato reproduce from tubers, 

 while the sweet potato is propagated from tuberous 

 roots or from vine cuttings. 



HOW PLANTS FEED — HOW THEY GROW — AND HOW 

 THEY REPRODUCE 



There are few subjects more intensely interesting to 

 the lover of Nature than her methods and processes in 

 plant -building and plant -reproduction. 



Without entering into the intricate details of the 

 results of scientific research into Nature's secret in these 

 respects, it is important that the gardener who desires 

 both profit and pleasure from his chosen vocation 

 should acquaint himself with the laws of being of his 

 plants and the manner in which the different parts 

 cooperate in collecting, distributing, preparing and 

 appropriating the crude, dead material of soil and air 

 and transforming it into a thing of life and beauty. 



The active agents in the feeding and growth of 

 plants are their roots, stems and leaves. These are the 

 organs of vegetation, or growth. It is through these 

 that the dead materials of soil and air are collected, dis- 

 tributed, transformed and vitalized, each working in its 



