83 



Plants produce the entire fuel supply of the world: 

 of course the trees which we* burn are plants grown to 

 maturity, and a great supply of burning material they 

 furnish, independent of their numerous other produc- 

 tions and uses. But how is coal connected with 

 plants. It is believed that the great and extensive for- 

 ests which existed prior to the creation of man, became 

 old and fell and many tons of leaves and twigs dropped 

 together with other decaying vegetation, when all this 

 mass of material sank and was buried in the earth, and 

 underwent so many changes by reason of the condition 

 of the planet at that period, that they were thus 

 changed into the coal, which we now find in such quan- 

 tities throughout the world. Thus we see that we 

 could not live were it not for the great service rendered 

 by plants. 



A person going abroad and looking upon plants in 

 the usual w^ay would naturally think they were of no 

 consequence except for beauty and adornment, but 

 this is far from correct as will be seen on reading 

 the works of those great authors who have made 

 nature a study, and have furnished the world with 

 much valuable information on this subject. 



REPRODUCTION OF PLANTS. 



This is another feature in plant life which is very 

 interesting: it is accomplished by seeds, buds, shoots, 

 runners or stolons, and by grafting. This latter pro- 

 cess is mostly put into practice in the growing and 

 raising of fruit trees : in this way wild species may be 

 made to bear fruit like the one from which the branch 



