Gardening 



Root hairs live for 

 only two or three days. 

 They die away on the 

 older parts of the root- 

 let, and new ones are all 

 the time developing just 

 back of the growing 

 root tips. This habit 

 makes it necessary for 

 the rootlets to keep on 

 growing if the plant is 

 to be supplied with 

 water. 



What happens when 

 a plant wilts. When a 

 plant has plenty of 

 water, the cells are well 

 filled and rounded out, 

 so that they press 

 tightly against one an- 

 other and the whole 

 plant stands up firm and 

 strong. If the plant 

 lacks water, the cells are 



only partly filled and the leaves and other parts of the 

 plant wilt and droop. In this condition, to a great 

 extent, growth and the manufacture of food stop ; and if 

 a garden plant remains wilted continuously for two or 

 three days and nights, it generally dies. 



It does not take a plant long to wilt if it is pulled and 

 left in the open air. It wilts just as quickly while stand- 



FiG. 47. A seedling carelessly pulled wilts 

 much faster than one carefully dug up. 

 The plant at the left wilted rapidly be- 

 cause many of its roots were broken off 

 and those remaining were unprotected by 

 soil particles. The seedling at the right 

 was carefully lifted from the soil at the 

 same time ; it will remain unwilled much 

 longer than the other one. 



