The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1905-10-06
INSTINCTS or PLANTS.
Some Instances In which IL Seems to
Equal That Of Animals.

Some Instances In Which IL Seems to
Equal That Of Animals.
AS an observer, In my long life !
have n5ttced strange explorations OF
tho roots Of plsn;5 ana especially OF
forest trees.
Some years since was making
road through 10 pasture. I cane
across a green root half an inch in
diameter looked about to see
J where there. was a tree. In looking
up a steep HIN, about fifty feet away,
saw an ash tree about eight inches
in diameter and from this tree the
root came I did not trace this root
20 It's end as / should have done, but
knowing the distance to the water,
on lower land 6eiow me, and the size
of the root where I cut It in two, l
estimated the root must have gone
twenty-five feet more, making seven
ty-nve feet in all the root must have
Travelled 1o-obtain water.
Tines Including all that grow in
gardens, such as grapes, squashes,
pumpkins, also .cucnmbers and mel
ons, IN their natural state, climb
where they have a chance have
had squashes climb high in trees and
bear good sized squashes, SO that /
would have to give them support that
they might grow to maturity. Mar.
ket gardeners say that a squash run
ming. along on the ground In coming
under the limb Of an apple tree or
any other tree will lift itself to OBJ
tain support, and then fell back.
Again, they say that II we place
dish sef water to the right or left Of
tho terminal point OF a. vine and
little forward the vine will go for the
water in whatever direction the;
water may be.
have known butternutg and elm
.rees to send their roots thirty Or
forty feet down a steep Hill to run
ming brook Of water It has been re-
corded that well was dug twenty
five feet from q tree and lined up
with cement, and the well covered.
The water was conveyed to the house
In a wooden pipe. In the pipe there
was knothole and in time the water
began to fail, besides acquiring o
strange taste. On investigation it
was found that the well was partial
" filled with tho roots of the tree
a root, found the knot hole twenty
Ave feet away and so found the water
at last.
-ysiA tree In California sent out root
foraging for water, so II followed
the line of a sewer; following It's cas-
ing until II reached a high brick wall
in which several feet up there was
asmall hole leading to the other side
The root made for this hole. passing
through 1t. then 1t ran down on the
other side finding the water sought.
Some years ago read of a case
where there was a well on one side
OF 4 house and a willow tree on the
other side, In, the course OF time
the tree sent root under the cellar
bottom to. the other side Of the house
ana cellar, reaching the water at last,
In my own case, many years ago /
conveyed water from spring to the
farm, buildings in what we called
pump logs. The logs getting some
what decayed. the root Of maple
standing some ten or twelve feet
away and little down hill found it's
way into the logs and filled them to
such an extent that the water at the
buildings was minus. On exploring,
we found the trouble as related
Mysterious are many OF the works
Of nature. How do the roots and
vines know where to find water? Is
1t vegetable instinct? If 1t is, even
then Il is mysterlous.-Timothy
Wheeler in the New York Tribune.