

24 THE FLOWER GARDEN COMPANION. 



Water. Some persons are of opinion, that water is the 

 sole food of plants, who found their authority on the fact, that 

 many kinds, and particularly bulbs, vegetate and produce 

 their blossoms in that fluid; the reverse of this is, however, 

 the case, as, on calcination, those plants are found to contain 

 component parts ; but the quantity of water necessary for dif- 

 ferent species is also very apparent ; as some plants are found 

 to thrive on the hardest rocks, and must obtain their moisture 

 principally from their leaves, to which it is first imparted 

 from the atmosphere, whilst others are known to live wholly 

 in water, and consequently must be of a different nature in 

 their solids. 



Atmospheric Air. "The atmosphere," says Stroud, "is 

 composed of oxygen, carbonic acid, hydrogen and nitrogen 

 gases, in different proportions ; all these are to be found in 

 vegetables, but they do not all seem to be vegetable food. 



"That oxygen is necessary to vegetation, numerous exper- 

 iments have proved, and few have been found to subsist long 

 without it, when in a growing state ; it is therefore plain, that 

 plants inhale a considerable quantity of the gas. 



" Carbonic Acid. This is also beneficial to plants, partic- 

 ularly to the root ; but if too large a quantity be applied, it 

 proves injurious or fatal. Hydrogen and nitrogen are sup- 

 posed to enter vegetables in combination with other sub- 

 stances, as when they are applied separately to growing 

 plants, they refuse to inhale either of them, and death is the 

 consequence. 



" From these facts, it appears that vegetables have a power 

 of extracting from the atmosphere, those parts which contrib- 

 ute to their growth and health, as well as from the soil, and 

 of refusing to admit the constituents of either." 



The above facts plainly show the utility and necessity of 

 obtaining a proper air, requisite to the growth and health of 

 the plant ; whether in a frame room or green-house, the ne- 

 cessity is the same. When unwholesome air is present, the 

 plant suffers in proportion to the portion of improper gas : 



