THE PLANT AND WATER. 13 



How DOES THE WATER GET IN? We can answer this 

 first question by carefully observing as follows : When 

 house plants are watered, we do not pour the water on the 

 leaves and branches, but on the soil that contains the roots. 

 When the earth above the roots has been allowed to become 

 too dry, the gardener sometimes sets the whole pot, earth and 

 roots, in a pail of water until the soil has become thoroughly 

 wet. Two pots of the same size and shape may be taken, one 

 having a plant growing in the soil and the other containing 

 only soil. Then place them side by side and water the soil in 

 both with the same amount of water. It will be observed that 

 the soil in which the plant is growing will become dry much 

 more quickly than the soil having no plant. 



If we could examine the drains coming from under two fields 

 having the same kind of soil, one having little or nothing grow- 

 ing upon it and the other having a heavy crop, such as roots, 

 corn or hay, we would see that much more water drains away 

 from the bare field than from the field bearing a crop. 



Perhaps you have noticed a bulb or a slip from some rapidly- 

 growing plant being started in a vase or glass bottle filled with 

 water. If you take two glass bottles of the same size and fill 

 both with water and place a growing plant slip in one, you will 

 notice that the water in the one having the plant slip will dis- 

 appear more rapidly than the water in the other bottle. Some- 

 times it can be shown even more clearly by placing a few large 

 white flowers, such as lilies or chrysanthemums, in water that 

 has been colored red or blue. After a while some red or blue 

 color will appear in the flowers. 



We conclude from the above that the water passes into the 

 plant by way of the roots. 



How DOES THE WATER GET OUT ? It is quite evident that 

 there is not room in the plant to hold all that goes in. Wher- 

 ever we cut into a living plant we find it damp and the cells 



