Bismarck tri-weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, D.T. [N.D.]) 1875-1881, 1877-06-13

To state the same truth properly:
Trees nourish themselves directly by
means of organic materials furnished
them in the earth, water and air. To the
soil the tree has the closest relAtiOns.
The raw materials which it takes up by
the roots, like those which enter by the
leaf, undergo within the tree numerous
successive chemical changes by which
they are converted into the substance Of
the tree itseE. A naturally fertile soil
contains all the necessary forms Of vege-
table food in sufficient abundance, and
can readily supply them to the hungry
roots, Only in soils deficient in this nat
ural food Is manure necessary. IF the
soil in its chemical composition contains
the Necessary constituents, and to these
lis added the combinid influence Of warmth.
and moisture the tree grows well and
healthily, and subserves its purpose IN
the econemy sf nature. - ssz51 80 2
/ The water which the roots absorb after
It has entered the tree serves many M
portant chenical and physiological p1r-
poses. It fills up and descends the numer-
Gus vessels and carries with it as it ascesds
and descesds, the various substances which
are contained in the sap, and By evapo.,
ration from the leaves keeps it compare
lively cool, even in the sunniest weather.
It combines with the carbon which the
leaf brings in from the air, and forms
woody fibre, starch and gum. Thous-
ands Of chemical changes are every L.
slant going on within the substance of
large and rapidly growing Tee, and in
nearly all of these the constituent ele-
ments of water, oxygen and hydrogen,
play a constant part. f.s..EE
! The water which fills the vessels Of the
tree though partially derived from the
air in seasons of drowth, and drunk In by
the leaves E,om the dews and falling rains
lis principally sucked up by the roots from
the earth in which it grows. These roots,
as have said, are only downward exPan-
sions of the stem. Above the ground the
trunk consists of bark without and
pith within the woody portion. But that
underground portion Of the trunk called
the root is composed Of 4 porous ard
spongy mass from which spring number.
less fbry rootlets. Upon the surface OF
these rootlets the microscope shows many
minute hairs like hollow horns winch
thrust themselves laterally among the.
particles of the soil. Through these ho!-
low horns the tree draws from the earth
the supply of water it constantly requires,
and which in drouthy weather it sheds
copiously from its leaves into the air.
But it is from tie air and through its
leaues that the tree sucks in the breath 2t
life. The surface of the leaf is thlcKly
studded with minute pores, each one tor
ming miniature breathing apparatus,
through which gases and water and va
Dor are constantly entering or escaplngs
Hence tree stripped Of its leaves and
growing buds derives no more benefit
from the atmosphere than a living being
with mouths sealed and nos1ils closed.
In the daytime the leaves give off oxy-s
gen and absorb carbonic acid gas. Du-.
ring the night this process is reversed.
They then absorb oxygen and exhale car
bonic acid. Heyce the unwholesomeness'
of night air. These pores of the leaf abb
sorb also from the atmosphere other CASE
Gus substances in smaller quantity
The gas thus absorbed enters into the
circulation of the tree and undergoes a
series of chemical changes the result be-
ing that its carbon is converted into starch,
woody fibre, etc, while its oxygen is given
to maintain the purity of the air.
Herein, in the Aealthfulness o. trees, do
we find the chief argument and in sntive
to tree planting. The tree serve. to Pu-
rify the air we breathe. 1t absorbs car:
bonic acid and eshaies oxygen. and thus
becomes valuable instrument in main
tanning the normal condition of the at
mosphere. 1t renders the air more tit tor
the support of animal life, both by remov-
ing that which is noxious (the carbonic
acid } and by pouring into it that which
is salutary (the oxygen) to animal heat
and life. - =
Arboriculture is indeed a science worthy
our warmest admiration. The philosoPh-
ic poet who found
Sermons IN stones, and good IN everything.