Gardening 



These facts explain 

 why plants quickly suf- 

 fer if they are not pro- 

 vided with a continuous 

 and abundant supply of 

 water. 



How roots are 

 adapted for work of 

 collecting water. The 

 roots are the water- 

 gathering organs of the 

 plant. To gain an idea 

 of how well these organs 

 are adapted to their 

 work, germinate some 

 radish seeds on moist 

 blotting paper and ex- 

 amine the roots of the 

 seedlings as they grow. 



The young growing 

 roots are very small, 

 brittle, and tender, and 

 they quickly dry out 



A mustard seedling soon after h exposed tc the air. 

 Note the deh- 



FIG. 45- 



germinating on a blotter. 



cate root hairs. 



At first there is only a 

 primary or first root, 



which ends in a blunt point. It grows rapidly in length, 



and side branches soon develop which are quite like the 



tip of the older root. 



Thus rootlet after rootlet appears until there is a 



much-branched system with many growing ends. As 



