Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1867-08-15
FARMERS 4epmtnlfllt.
The Root Family.


We know not the source of the fol
lowing account of "The Root Fami-
ly," but it will repay perusal:
Do ven know who are the most in,
dustrious and hardest workers in The
world? The root family. They
work night and day, summer and
winter, without tiring. What they
have to do, they do without grumb
ling or discomfort, or asking any why
or wherefore.
Roots are of various forms; some
times wedge-like, as in beets, to
pierce firm and solid ground; some.
times in long, fiat scales, to fasten
themselves to the bare rocks. But,
tender and delicate as they often
seem to be, they possess wonderful
strength; to the forest trees they
serve as gigantic anchors, claiming
them to the solid earth, and support
ing them against the battling of the
storms. They dive down into the
ground, and let nothing hinder their
progress. The roots of a large
chestnut tree on Mount Etna, under
which a hundred horsemen could
find shelter, penetrates through
rocks and lava to the springs at the
foot of the mountain.
Roots not only serve as fastnings,
they pump up the nutriment which
the plant needs, and supply it with
drink and food. There are delicate
fbers at the end of the roots, called
spongiolos, which have minute holes
opening and shutting to take in or
reject what is necessary for the
health and life of the plant, and they
know what to take and what to leave.
Suppose wheat and peas grow side
by side; the spongioles of the wheat
are open to receive all the 1inty
matters of the soil which the water
can take up, while the spongioles of
the pea will not have the flint, but
prefer lime, and take whatever lime
the water of the soil may contain
The wheat and the pea have different
tastes for their dinner. Sometimes
they draw nourishment directly from
the water, as in duckweed, when
each small leaf has its own little root
hanging from under the surface.
la the mangroves of the tropics
they form an enormous network in
the water, and catch, as in seine,
all the matter which floats down the
streams when the tides and floods
go down. Shell fish are often found
among the roots, accounting for the
stories of the early discoveries of
America, who said the oysters grew
on the branches of trees. Some
times the roots have no home in land
or water, but take themselves to
some strong and healthy tree, where
they creep through the crevices of
the bark into the wood, and feed up
on the very life of the tree. These
plants are called parasites. A state
ly palm is often seen covered with
the creepers of parasite, which, at
last, eats out its very life, and the
noble tree dies in the treacherous
embrace. Roots, wherever they are,
in the dark earth, or under the rest
less waves, or on the bark of foreign
trees, are always at work, and rough
usage does not destroy them. A
common maple tree may be turned
upward, the roots in the air, and the
branches in the ground, and yet live.
The first orange trees in Europe,
which are in the city of Dresden,
came as ballast, without roots or
branches, in the hold of a German
vessel. A curious gardener, anxious
to know what the new wood was,
planted them, and, through mistake,
planted them upside down; but in
spite of this bad treatment, the
brave little trees have grown and
fourished beyond all other trees On
the continent. Do not even the
roots seem TO say, "The hand that
made us is divine''