HINTS ON SOILS AND FERTILIZERS 17 
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amount of moisture and air are incorporated 
in the soil, the seed will commence to sprout. 
This simply means that the embryo is absorb¬ 
ing the food material surrounding it, and is 
sending out a root system that is working down¬ 
ward into the soil, and also a stalk, or stem, 
that is forcing itself upwards, so that the 
foliage that is to follow will be able to get 
the sunshine and air above the surface of the 
ground. But it is quite obvious that the small 
amount of plant food contained in the original 
seed is not sufficient to feed the young seed 
indefinitely. By the time that this plant food 
is exhausted, the young plant, or seedling, has 
a fine root system established of its own, so 
that from that time on, the plant derives its 
food from the soil, by means of these small 
slender root filaments. 
We now have the young plant in a stage 
where it derives its food from the soil. But 
what if the soil is lacking in some particular 
plant food? Unless the soil is unusually defi¬ 
cient in some plant food element, the young 
plant will not be hindered in its growth ma¬ 
terially, during its early growth. But as it con¬ 
tinues to grow through the summer, if one or 
more elements are lacking, a decided check in 
its growth will be noticeable, and a poor crop 
will ultimately result. 
Many are often puzzled as to the manner in 
which plants use the elements of the soil, and 
are thereby enabled to grow into matured 
plants. It is true that the plant has a feeding 
apparatus differing radically from that of ani¬ 
mals. Plants do not have teeth, stomachs or 
