THE FUNCTIONS OF BOOTS. (South. Autralian Advertiser.)

Waikato Times, Volume VI, Issue 325, 13 June 1874, Page 2

THE FUNCTIONS OF BOOTS. (South. Autralian Advertiser.)

I The complete dependence of tbe whole superstructure of> land plants upon their underground development has at all times been so strikingly manifest, that such expressions a* eradication, rooting up, atriking.at the root, distinctly con re j the idea of utter extinction or extermination. We speak with, equnl distictnes* of » rooted' tree, a rooted prejudice, or a ftdical reformer ; of up-rooting a plantation or eradicating a disease, implying that if the root if destroyed or removed the plant has lost all vitality. During the earlier stages of growth, especially among cereals, the greater part ot the vital power of the plant it more especially directed to tbe formation and extension of roots, A young wheat plant if pulled, up, will be found to have attained much greater bulk underground than above^ and the nutriment thus treasured up U an extra store from, which the plant can. draw supplies during those, subsequent, periods when the weather or other causes might check the power* of the plant in' gathering its daily supply from without. In fact, the root has been likened to the fly-wheel of. an engine, by winch a uniformity is secured. Roots increase in size by continued addition to their extremities ; at the end of each of the numerous root fibres- it a thin delicate membranous substance, pervious to water,, and possessing the power during the life of the plant of exercising the functions of endosmote. As these " spongoles" increase in thickness, others are formed at theirextremities, which in thsir turn carry on their peculiar action- It is by means of these tender spongiolei that the whole upper part of the plant is continually nourished. They art the gateways through which the plant food furnished by the soil" enter*, and they are also the selectors of those substances which the plant require-. Formerly it was supposed that tho extremities of the roots received all the plant nourishment by allowing water holding the food in solution, to pass through. Further experiment and research have however demonstrated that the passage of the nutritive substances is not a inert mechanical operation, but that the function is essentially one dependent upon vitality. The properties possessed by membranous bodies are exemplified in animals as in plants— all the alimentary substances which enter tbe system are admitted through membranes. Their supply and quality is thus regulated ; and at death in animals, as in plant, this power ef selection u lost. If a seed is placed to germinate and grow on water vn which the numerous substances necessary to plant hfe are dissolved, the rootlets ■» ill take up only those which that particular plnnt requires, and in a certain relatire proportion. If the spongioles granted admission to liquids indiscriminately, tbe plant would be supplied with iuch food and in such proportion as might be arbitrarily added to thewater. It is thus evident that there is inherent in the extremities of the roots during the action of vitality a power of domination, by which only those nlimenkary bodies are , admitted w liicJi the plant requires. The poner of selection possessed by the growing organism is well illustrated by marine plants. A consideration of the structure and wonderful functions, of roots constitutes one of the most interesting studies of physical science, and a knowledge of some of their leading characteristics is ol practical ralue to the agriculturist tsweU as of nirn.il iutireat to tl c sludeut of nature.

Whoever, resistance <£™ marvellous strength, either in om\ one side the opposing object. Hugo ston ar , compact masonry piously derange^ by the tore bj minute roots, so tender that they cim uu .? } h , between the finger but P°r^» hEd Sevelopwould be better applied to the normal meat of the plant. chlonde of sodium to 1 Sea water contains 2 ? P alt * ot T^ 80 two Ba , tB hare the the potassium salt than of the <°£™> te quan . power of taking ;» wdumj h« h ex£a m { ,^ u M of the root by nutntitive substances » complex law., the exact explanation of which ha* never yet h t^££SU and they eWden^ po— Jj jr. of bone buried in the soil on which turnips «^joj ing, are often found thickly covered with a delicate network of root fibres from the turnip, evidently drawn there by the want of the phosphates and other matters of c bo " c turnip plant In order that the root might obtain^ those nutritive aubstances it requires with a nnnimum rf cxerUoa it i. necessary that the fertiliung matter » nould . be^T U r S distributed, and that the soil should be in »uch a pulverised ■Uto a, to allow the root fibrils to penetrate ea. Uy , hence the advisability of thoroughly tilling the "^"J^ 1 where the first and most tender of the rootlets are developed, and whence they derive their first nutrition. Roots possess a property differing from the leaves of plants in a peculiar way ; the leaves take in carbonic acid, and after assimilating the carbon, return the pure oxygen m to the atmosphere. Roots, on the contrary, »»« the faeul^ of taking m oxygen and sending out other as excreta) A supply of oxygen is a necessity to .the life o< the root; probably it exercises an of the hitherto unknown changes *Hf m *nf ftree entering into circulation in the sap. If the roc , s of a tree are covered over with an extra supply of earth, the wot. either send tendrils upward into contact with the air or it they lack vital power sufficient to accomplish this ihev die and* evidently from want of oxygen from the air. .Hence another reason for a well tilled soil, so that it .ha l be per meable by the air, and enable the oxygen to come into contact with the roots at all points. , , Lucerne roots have heen known to penetrate to a depth of 20 feet, and to elaborate to such a n extent weigh many times moxe than that part of the 'P^t above ground. An analysis of these roots shows that .they are particularly rich ,n nitrogen potash, soil would become constantly richer in all the conditions , necessary to the production of wheat. :