81 



whole plant is concerned in this gathering of food but 

 when it becomes older and the stem toughens and 

 hardens into wood, the leaf tips and small roots are the 

 main agents by which the plant lives. That taken in 

 by the roots is moisture and mineral substance, and 

 that by the leaves mostly air, these substances are 

 changed after absorption to suit the needs of the plant 

 the mineral matter becoming vegetable: this earthy 

 material which is taken in forms ashes when the bush 

 or tree is burned. All plants renew their foliage 

 yearly, falling off in autumn and being renewed in the 

 spring, even the evergreen changes its coat, but not so 

 noticeably, new spindles or needles are on their way 

 while the old ones are falling. The life blood of plants 

 is the sap, which flows through the system, following 

 each branch and twig to its very tip, trimming or cut- 

 ting a plant in the spring of the year when the sap is 

 likely to prove injurious to its life. 



The stems of plants are composed of a series of di- 

 visions or partitions, and the sap in rising one inch is^ 

 said to pass through one hundred or more of such 

 divisions. 



Most of the nourishment laid up in seeds for future 

 use is composed of starch, the larger portion of the 

 potato is of this nature, also corn. If a grain of 

 Indian corn be cut in two edgwise a good view is ob- 

 tained of the starch also embryo. When such seeds are 

 planted this substance turns into a mucilage which is 

 used as nourishment for the young shoot when first 

 escaped fron its prison house. 



What is the benefit of all this action? Does it have 

 any effect upon animal life or the air we breathe? 



