“WHAT becomes, please, of the humus soup after the plant roots take it up?” asked Mary Frances thoughtfully.
“It’s a wonderful story,” Bouncing Bet spoke in her sweet voice. “You see, the plant food soup is carried up into the larger roots, into the sapwood of the tree, into the branches and into the leaves; and the leaves——”
“Give us shade!” Eleanor did not realize that she had interrupted.
“They do,” smiled Bet. “But that is not their work.”
“Oh, do leaves work?” Eleanor was surprised.
“They work very, very hard,” Bet replied. “They do such wonderful work that a leaf has been called a leaf factory, or a leaf-mill.”
“You think that leaves do not resemble the factories or mills you have seen,” went on the fairy. “It is not in appearance that they resemble mills andfactories, but in the work they do; for they manufacture starch. I suppose there is really no starch in the whole world that leaves have not made.”
“Oh,” exclaimed Mary Frances; “even the starch in our dresses—is that made by leaves?”
“Yes,” Bet smiled, “even that; and the starch in your bread and the——”
“Tell them the story, Bet,” said Jack, who was much interested.
“All right,” answered the little fairy, turning to pick a leaf from the magic tree. “Please do not interrupt, and I will tell you about—
Nothing can grow without the right kind of food.Plants cannot use the “plant-food soup,” just as it is taken up by the roots, to make new growth.The leaves must first turn the liquid food intostarch, which is the right kind of food for the plant.A leaf has been called a leaf-mill, because it has many tiny grinding stones.These tiny grinding stones are the green grains in the cells which form the leaf. They are calledchlor-o-phyllbodies.The leaf-mill grinding stones are turned by sunshine power. Without sunshine they cannot work.By the leaf-mill grinding stones, a gas from the air (carbonic acid gas) is mixed with the plant food soup sent up by the plant’s roots, and starch is formed.While doing the work of manufacturing starch, the leaf-mill throws off into the air another gas, called oxygen. Oxygen is needed by all animals; carbonic acid gas (or carbon dioxide) is needed by all plants whose leaves make starch.But even the starch must be changed before the plant can use it to make new growth. It must be made into sugar!So the leaves act as stomachs, and digest the starch they have made for the plant’s use. In them, in some wonderful way, the starch is changed into sugar, and some mineral matter from the humus soup is mixed with the sugar. This combination forms a perfect food, ready for the plant to make into new growth.
Nothing can grow without the right kind of food.
Plants cannot use the “plant-food soup,” just as it is taken up by the roots, to make new growth.
The leaves must first turn the liquid food intostarch, which is the right kind of food for the plant.
A leaf has been called a leaf-mill, because it has many tiny grinding stones.
These tiny grinding stones are the green grains in the cells which form the leaf. They are calledchlor-o-phyllbodies.
The leaf-mill grinding stones are turned by sunshine power. Without sunshine they cannot work.
By the leaf-mill grinding stones, a gas from the air (carbonic acid gas) is mixed with the plant food soup sent up by the plant’s roots, and starch is formed.
While doing the work of manufacturing starch, the leaf-mill throws off into the air another gas, called oxygen. Oxygen is needed by all animals; carbonic acid gas (or carbon dioxide) is needed by all plants whose leaves make starch.
But even the starch must be changed before the plant can use it to make new growth. It must be made into sugar!
So the leaves act as stomachs, and digest the starch they have made for the plant’s use. In them, in some wonderful way, the starch is changed into sugar, and some mineral matter from the humus soup is mixed with the sugar. This combination forms a perfect food, ready for the plant to make into new growth.
“Isn’t it a wonderful story?” asked Bouncing Bet, as she finished speaking.
“It’s the most surprising garden story I’ve yet heard,” declared Mary Frances.
“I’ll never, never think of leaves again as just ‘for shade,’” declared Eleanor. “But I’m glad they do give shade,” she added.
“Trees give a great deal of shade,” said Bet, “because they expose as large a surface of leaves as possible to the sun. On a large tree, nearly halfan acre of leaf surface may be in the sunlight at once.”
“And the sunlight turns the grinding-stones of the leaf-mill,” said Mary Frances softly.
“And they make food for the tree,” Eleanor whispered.
“Sometimes a plant does not need for immediate use all the food the leaves have made,” Bet continued, “so it stores it away for future use: sometimes, in roots; sometimes, in leaves; sometimes in other parts of the plant—as in the grains of wheat.”
“I wonder how the storage places look,” said Eleanor.
Bet laughed. “You’ve often seen some of them,” she said. “When you eat turnips and beets, you are eating the food stored in the roots of these plants. When you use onions, you are using food stored in leaves.”
Mary Frances thought the fairy had made a mistake, and Bet seemed to read her thought.
“Oh, no,” she laughed, “I’m not mistaken. You see, the bulb of the onion is made up of the thickenedlower ends of the leaves, the top green parts of which have dried off.”
“It is interesting,” she went on, “to see how quickly the plants which have stored food begin to grow when put into the warm place. It is because of this fact that bulbous flowers are the first to bloom in the Spring. They do not have to make food to begin to grow, for their food is ready for use, and just a little warmth and moisture will start them.”
“Oh, I see why crocuses, and hyacinths, and tulips bloom so early,” said Mary Frances.
“Yes,” nodded Bet, “and it is an interesting experiment to make a carrot hanging basket. Cut the top off a large carrot and scoop out a hollow. Fill the hollow with water, and hang the carrot in a warm room. The beautiful green leaves will soon grow, using the material stored in the root for food.” Just at this point, Jack stepped forward.
“I’m sorry,” said he, “to interrupt such an interesting lesson, but as we have so little time, by your leave, Bet, I will commence my story about some of our most peculiar relatives—if the young ladies would enjoy hearing about them.”