The Columbus journal., 1903-06-17
FOUNDATION OF cRoWTH.

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FOUNDATION OF GROWTH.
What We call cells make mp the
body Of all plants. Some Of the very
smallest forms Of plant life are made
up OF few cells, but most plants have
millions Of these. Take . compound
microscope, and place under It Z Sec-
ton from any plant; It viii b foaAd
to consist entirely Of cells arranged
side BY side or one over another.
Some Of the cells may be alive and
some dead. In large plants most u
the cells are dead, even though the
plants themselves may be growing
vigorously. A cell is q minute glObu-
lar body with tough wall inclosing .
huid interior, which is called bio
plesm. This bioplasm has the power
to draw to itself more fluid through
the cell wall and thus increase the
size OF the cell. When the cell can
grow no larger 1t divides itself into
two BY the drawing in Of the cell wall,
just rs q sausage maker divides his
sausages by twisting and thus con.
tracing the skin. Each Of these partt
cells then grows to the size Of the
original cell and itself divides. This
explains the rapid growth Of plants at
some stages, after they have got .
good start, as we say. and 1t also o..
plains their slow growth at first Any
scholar that has ever tried to double
q number for twenty or thirty times
will understand. Said q man to the
king Of Burmah: Give me . grain
Of wheat for the first square on the
checker board. 2 for the second. 4 for
the third. and 80 on for the whole 64
squares" Said the king: Certainly.
l command that It be done." His min.
listers found there was not wheat
enough in the kingdom to pay the
bill. That is how cells multiply. It
Is why We wake up some morning
to ind that the weeds have got ahead
of us-that they have overrun every
thing. He who understands this and
is wise will assail the weeds when
they are 1T q stage Of slow growth
rather than wait till they are on the
gallop.
In time most cells lose their power
OF division or increasing in size. These
walls become thicker and harder and
their interior solidifies. They have
been squeezed into various shapes.
Growth having ceased. they are
known rs dead cells, when they are
Of use only as supports to those that
are growing. When vitality is great
and nourishment abundant cell growth
goes on rapidly. but when either Of
these II lacking the growth is slow.
ABSORBING POWER OF ROOTS.
When . seed sprouts the first thing
It does is to put forth . root for the
purpose of absorbing water and other
mineral matter necessary for the
further development Of tho plant.
This root pushes itself into the sou
by cell multiplication at its tip, and
gets thicker by new layers al around
it. We thus see that the root extends
itself into the soil by almost irrisisti.
BILE force. and is able to penetrate
hard substances that 1t never could
penetrate il it grew from behind and
pushed itself forward as the nails Of
our fingers do. This mode Of growth
also makes the soil tightly packed
around the entire root surface, even
to the minutest hbers. and thus en-
ables them readily to absorb such
nourishment as the soil may contain
for the plant. The power to absorb
is greatest in the small root fbers, or
spongioles, as they are called, and
gradually diminishes as the roots
grow older and thicker. Now, when
We remove a plant from the soil we
break off thousands of these spon-
gioles, no matter how much care we
take or how much We believe in the
whole root theory; and thus the pow.
er Of the plant to absorb is greatly
diminished. When we place It in the
soil again, we are unable to make the
soil come into such close contact with
the roots as 1t was when the roots
had extended themselves into the soil
by their growth: but this may be
done to a certain extent by having
the soil well pulverized and then
pouring water around the plant i'm.
mediately after it has been set in the
pulverized soil. This will cause the
soil to settle around the roots. though
the roots will not press against it till
they resume their .growth.-Prof. H.
w. Specking.
FEEDING MoLAssEs TO HORSES.