SCIENCE AND FRUIT GROWING 



CHAPTER I 

 PLANTS, FUNGI AND INSECTS 



THIS chapter contains such elementary information as to the 

 structure and functioning of plants, fungi and insects as may be 

 of assistance in interpreting the results of the Woburn experi- 

 ments. To most of our readers this information will be super- 

 fluous; but to others a brief statement on the subject may be 

 a convenience. 



PLANTS 



The popular conception of a plant is that of an organism which 

 grows in the soil, and which possesses structures known as roots, 

 stems, leaves and flowers. This conception is really much too 

 circumscribed, as many plants of lower degree exist, such as 

 algae and fungi,, which bear no resemblance to ordinary plants, 

 and do not necessarily inhabit the soil. But the popular concep- 

 tion of a plant may be taken as that most suited for our present 

 purpose. 



Such plants may be classified into three sections 



(1) Herbs. Low-growing plants, which usually are short-lived, 

 often only annual in duration ; e. g. buttercups, grasses, speedwell. 



(2) Shrubs. -Woody plants, which branch out from just above 

 the surface of the ground, and are usually perennial in duration : 

 e. g. privet, laurel. 



(3) Trees. -Woody plants which throw up a stout un branched 

 bole, or trunk, for some distance above the ground, and then 

 branch out in various ways. These are mostly long-lived, some 

 surviving for hundreds of years. 



All three types are similar in general structure, but the stems 

 and roots of trees and shrubs naturally become much stronger 

 and more developed than those of herbs. 

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