VIII 
PLANTS THAT ARE ATHLETES 
Plants that roll and tumble; Plants that dress to travel; 
Plants that hop; Plant high-jumpers; Plants that tie 
sailor’s knots; Plants that shoot; Plant aviators; Plants 
that canoe; Plants that swim; Plants that dive; Plants 
that drive hydroplanes; Plants that skate; Plants that 
travel in ice-boats; Plants that dance; Plants that climb. 
LANTS have as many kinds and forms of 
athletics and become quite as skilled in them 
as do human athletes. They are by no means 
freshmen or amateurs trying to “make the team” 
but they have spent many generations in preparing 
for the feats which they so skilfully perform in 
their own peculiar way. Like a sprinter, or a tum- 
bler, a swimmer, diver, dancer, skater, ball-player, 
or archer—each has to work continually to keep 
in good condition. Think of a prize-fighter or a 
wrestler who would not practice! Defeat would 
surely be his end. And the same is true of plant 
athletes. 
But with the plant, athletics win not popular ap- 
plause nor money, but life or death. If they lose 
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