cal roots of others. Compare the colour and other surface features
of the root and stem. To prove its feeding power, try two plants of
equal size, taking the root off one and leaving it uninjured in the
other. Set them side by side in moist earth and notice which withers.
Take all the leaves off a plant and keep them off for a few weeks. The
plant dies if its leaves are not allowed to grow. Keep it in the dark
for a long time, and it finally dies even when water and soil are
supplied. The leaves, therefore, are essential and require sunlight in
doing their work. Their complete work will be considered later.

HOW THE PLANT GETS ITS FOOD FROM THE SOIL

When seeds germinate, the lower end of the caulicle, which becomes the
root, bears large numbers of root-hairs. Inside the root-hairs is
protoplasm and cell sap. These root-hairs grow among the soil particles
which lie covered over with a thin film of moisture. It is this moisture
that is taken up by these root-hairs, and in it is a small amount of
mineral matter in solution which helps to sustain the plant. The
transmission of soil water through the delicate cell walls of these
root-hairs is known as _osmosis_.

GERMINATION OF SOME OF THE COMMON GRAINS

Make a special study of corn, wheat, and buckwheat. Take three plates
and put moist sand in each to a depth of about half an inch. Spread over
this a piece of damp cloth. Put in No. 1, one hundred grains of corn; in
No. 2, the same number of grains of wheat; and in No. 3, the same number
of grains of buckwheat, peas, or beans. Cover each plate with another
piece of damp cloth and invert another plate over each to prevent drying
out. Keep in a warm room and do not allow the cloths to become dry. If
one of the cloths be left hanging six or eight inches over the side of
the plate and dipping into a dish of water, the whole cloth will be kept
moist by capillarity. Note the following points:

1. Changes in the size of the seeds during the first twenty-four hours.

2. In which variety germination seems most rapid.

3. The percentage vitality, that is, the number of seeds which germinate
out of one hundred.

4. The nature of the coverings and their use. (Protection to the parts
inside)

5. The parts of the seed inside. (Buckwheat, pea, or bean divides into
two parts, which become greenish and are called seed leaves. Wheat and
corn do not divide thus.)

6. The first signs of growth. A little shoot or tiny plant begins to