Pood Storage 



rather than an energetic state, and flower production 

 is usually greatest when the balance between water 

 supply and food store is in favour of the latter ; e.g., 

 slightly pot-bound plants flower more freely than 

 over-potted ones. 



More food is usually made by a plant in health 

 than is necessary for its immediate needs, and this 

 is stored in some part of the plant either for its own 

 needs in the future, as the starch in the medullary 

 rays of the vine stem, and the sugar in the beetroot, 

 or to give its offspring a start in life. Such food 

 stores are naturally attractive to parasites, and not a 

 few plant pests thrive upon them to the detriment 

 of the plant's future, or the strangling of its progeny 

 at their birth. 



The final result of all the plant's activities, and 

 dependent upon their due performance, is growth. 

 It is a complex process and dependent on a sufficient 

 supply of manufactured food made by the foliage, 

 enough water to distend the cells to their full extent 

 and to keep them distended (and therefore, probably, 

 most active at night), a temperature suitable to 

 promote all the necessary chemical changes (varying 

 with each different kind of plant), a supply of oxygen 

 for breathing purposes, and the absence or prompt 

 removal of all substances detrimental to the well- 

 being of the plant. ^ '"^ 



The kind of earth -salts available has some 

 influence upon the kind of growth produced, and 



17 o 



