4 



round their base and with 

 but few root-branches pro- 

 jecting below, cannot im- 

 mediately take anything 

 from the soil when planted 

 in a new spot r Most cer- 

 tainly they cannot. The 

 first effort of life after re- 

 planting is to throw out 

 new root-fibres, each with 

 its protective cap to explore 

 and forage among the fresh 

 soil. As they elongate, 

 absorptive hairs cover the 

 space of a few inches be- 

 hind the cap and begin 

 their function, pouring the 

 fluid taken up into the 

 tissues of the root. As 

 the lengthening proceeds, 

 the hindmost hairs die off 

 in a few days just in pro- 

 portion as new ones arise 

 behind the apex. Thus it 

 appears that the part of 

 the root which absorbs is perpetually moving forward 

 and coming in contact with unexhausted particles of 

 soil, instead of lying inactive among material which it has 

 worked out. The root-hairs cling tenaciously to the par- 

 ticles they touch, and as it were mould themselves on 

 them. Their moist surface is capable of dissolving traces 

 of the mineral constituents therein, and the solution 

 passes inward to the carrying system of the root. Having 

 made ever so few new rootlets and having begun to absorb 

 through the root-hairs upon them, the transplanted life of 

 the tree is begun. 



8. This knowledge should distinctly influence practical 

 work in planting fruit trees. Extreme care in lifting and 

 preservation of as much as possible of the small fibres of 



Figure 2. Rape seedlings showing root-hairs covered with soil, and the same 

 washed clean. 



Figiu-e 2. 



