The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-02-21

dAAu SDitlC SuiittSul must ut EEeStil-
Thus the leaves cannot make food un-
less assisted by the roots
The Plants Lungs.
The upper layers of cells, at the top
of the leaf surface, are very regular and
are green from the presence of this
chlorophyIl, which is one of the most
important substances found in the leaf
of the plant.
The cells of the under layers are ir-
regular in arrangement, and have
spaces between them. These spaces
lead to openings called stomata, or
breathing pores, which are so small and
so numerous that $4,000 of them have
been counted on one inch of leaf sur
face.
Leaves are, however, the lungs as well
as the stomach of the plant. Plants
need oxygen for breathing just as ami
mails do; since the former breathe as
well as feed by their leaves. Air, in
deed, is necessary for all parts of the
plant, the flowers, seeds, stems and
roots, as well as the leaves. If the lat
ter are covered with dust or smoke par
ticles, the plants will suffocate, as ami
mails do for want of air. Chinese gar
deners near Melbourne wash the
leaves of their plants several times each
day to keep them in health.
The Plant Dependent.
How delicate and dependent, after all,
is that interesting organism which we
call the plant 1t seems to be so tough
and so prolific of life that Ii covers the
earth with a carpet of vegetation in
spite of neglect, i'll usage. persecution
and climatic assaults; but in reality it
is only natures mdkeshift. the weeds,
that do so. The plants which We prize
as useful and profitable are produced
with great artificial or natural labor,
and are dependent upon the soil water,
which they absorb, upon certain solu-
bic salts which this water contains,
upon the oxygen and carbon dioxide,
which they take from the air and wa
ter, and upon sunlight, heat and good
air. Deprive the plant of any of these,
and il cannot live. So delicate, in
deed, is the organism of the living plant
that small and imperceptibIe amounts
of coal gas In the air near broken gas
mains will prove fatal to it: noxious
gases of any kind seriously affect il.
even when their amount may be so
small as to escape chemical tests for
them; while the relatively small proper
ton OF really nOxious gases in air
slightly contaminated by smelter fumes.
may completely poison the plant, with
out being sufficient IN quantity to affect
percepubly the people who breathe this
air. Witness the experience of Butte.
formerly with few living plants, grass
or trees, near, and of the damage to
vegetation by the atmosphere surround
ing our own smelter districts. The mar
vel Is how lives so tender or things so
fragile should be continued on the
earth's surface with the amazing regu-
larity and constancy which we actually
behold.
Plant Life and Solar Beam.
Plants show no signs of life except
when under the heating rays of the
sunbeam. and the amount of the heat
impaired pretty fairly mea sures the
luxuriance of the plants growth. The
Illuminating rays are of like import
ance with those that carry heat. In
the dark. plant growth is checked. the
leaves are deprived of green color, and
the bulbs and fruits are tasteless and
watery. Plants seek the light. and will
climb out of the cellar windows: while
If confined in total darkness, they
speedily die. The solar light beam
causes the stomata, OF breathing pores
to operate; but in darkness they close
and the plant suffocates The chemi.
cal rays of the sunbeam, however. are
of no less value TO the p>~St Under
| their acton. the green parts - leave,