The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1847-08-07
For the Girls and Boys.
The Young Botanist.

As IL is now the season OF leaves and How
'crS, we are going 10 say few words on bot
any, for the particular benefit of our young
readers.
Every one knows that there are great
many plants OH the earth. ny plants mean
all kinds oltrees, bushes briGrs, vines, grass
~, weeds, moses, and every thing that pro-
durcs flowers or fruit.
Well, how many different kinds Of plants
do you think there are in the world F? will
tell you. More than FORTY THOUSAND have
been already discovered These vary in size
from the smallest MOSES TO the largest trees.
Aud the MOSES that grow OH rocks, and Icnc-
90, and the trunks Of trees, have seeds, us
well ms the larger plants: but they nre so
SINAI! that you cannot SEQ them with the
gIitked eye. II is necessary 10 look ut them
through microscope or magnityng glass,
and then they may be seen very distinctly.
Forty thousand is great number; but
there are, no doubt, many more than have
been found, that are too small TO be obscry-
ed.
Then, again, how many flowers there must
he of oyery one of these forty thousand
kinds
Take dandelion, for instance. Can you
rc!l how many dandeions you ever saw !?
Yon have seen large fields yellow with them
an the spring. They are pretty flowers, too,
when examined; much prettier than some
that are cultivated in the gardens. How
many millions of them there must be! No
person can count them all.
Now, if every ono of these forty thousand
kinds consists of as many flowers as the dam
deliOn does, what an extraordinary multitude
offlowers there must be We cannot, in
deed imagine the number.
We all know that God makes plants to
live and grow but the manner of their grow
. ing is very curious. Their life and growth
are very much like our own. The crcula-
ton of the blood in the veins supports the
life of an animal; the blood is formed from
whit it eats, and it is continually carried from
the heart to all parts of the body; and when
II is stopped atthc heart, the animal ilnmedi-
ately dies.
In the same way the sap is drawn from
,he earth to the roots; and through small
passo ges, like the veins in your hand, it is
conveyed up the body of the tree to all the
branches, leaves, flowers, and fruit. If you
were to cut off all the little fibres Ofthe roots,
through which the sap is drawn into the tree,
the tree would die. The tree lives and grows,
but it docs not live and move, as an animal
does.
Then let us consider the use Of plants
They are necessary to support life. With
out them we should have no food. Our bread
is made of grain. We eat great many
vegetables, and trees produce our chieffuits.
You may, perhaps, think that if we had no
vegetables, we could eat meat. But where
should we get our meat? Cattle, sheep, and
hogs, live on grass, corn and potatoes; they
cannot cat dirt and stones any more than we
can. All animals live on the plants which
grow OH the earth. Shirts and some other
parts of our dress are lnnen and cotton and
you must understand that these are plants
Cotton grows on small tree. The tree
bears n pretty blossom: after the blossom
dies off it is succeeded by pod, which in
crcases to a considerable size, and, when quite
ripe, it bursts and displays the cotton.
Linen is made of the flax plant. Ropes
are useful; Il ship could not be managed
without them, and they are made of hemp or
flax
But what should we do for houses without
rrccs? We might build parts of them Of
brick or stone, but we could hardly be COM
Portable without boards to finish our rooms
with.
And then think how many articles Of fur
niturc-tables, bureaus. shelves, chairs Sc
are made of wood. Our vehicles carts,
wagons, carriages, arcmade of wood.
Besides the food, wood, and clothing
which we obtain from plants, many of them
are very valuable for medicine. A greater
part ofthe medicines in druggists shop
nrc made from plants. The indians, rs well
some other rude tribes, hava no other medi-
cine than plants.
Nature has, no doubt, provided all coun-
tries with medicine, in the native herbs, which
as quite sufficient TO overcome any disease
that may exist in them. IL many countries
the poor make use of herbs for the cure of
diseases, the effects of which they have
learned by experience. This is the case also
in countries where the inhabitants have no
education, and are quite unacquainted with
medical science. When they wound them
selves, they know at once what plants have a
healing property or, when they are i'll in
wardly, which plants will do them good.
Plants are not only useful and necessary
for our support, but they are scattered over
the earth III such variety as to make the
appearance Of them delightful. We do not
like to look at those things which are unpIea-
ant. We should soon be tired of gazing mt
large plains ofsand, which would surround
us If there were no green grass, and trees,
and beautiful flowers. God has given us
these things to be pleasant to our eyes. How
bad it would be for us if there were nothing
to shelter us from the sun 1t is very delight
full to sit in the cool shade when we are hot
and tierd, during the heat ofsuInmer
The description of the nature of plants is
called botany. Those who understand bot
any are called botansts. A great many per-
SONS do not know the names Of plants, be-
cause they do not pay attention TO them
But if they would devote some oftheir spare
time in learning something of Them they
would find tia great enjoyment ariy'S
.yIdgdztRe.