PREPARING SE1:D BEFORK SOWINfr. 



205 



which furnishes the nutritive matter the plant requires 

 during these first stages of growth. The root absorbs 

 water and the dissolved mineral substances of the soil. 

 This water reaches to the cell of the leaves; in its pas- 

 sage it passes from cell to cell and along some of the 



5.0 



Fig, 63. 

 tubes of the vascular tissue. During this upward 

 motion, it meets starch, which is traveling downward. 

 Under the influence of protoplasm, in some way or 

 another, nitrogen is formed, from which, with sulphur 

 and the starch constituents, albuminoids are produced. 



