JACK cleared his throat and began:
“Well, I don’t want to seem to be too proud or conceited, but to me it is quite a pleasant thing to think that the roots of Jack-in-the-Pulpit, orIndian Turnip, which is my other name, have been used as a medicine many a time; and that the roots of my cousinCalamus, orSweet Flag, are valuable as a tonic. Some of theArumfamily like dry soil and some like damp, marshy places. I do not like very dry places myself, and Cousin Calamus Sweet Flag likes his feet wet all the time.”
“Isn’t it wonderful,” Mary Frances leaned forward in her interest. “Isn’t it wonderful, how plants growing side by side are so different?”
“They eat the same things, yet are so different,” smiled Bouncing Bet. “For instance, isn’t it surprising that an onion and a lily may grow side by side? By the way, theOnionandLily-of-the-ValleyandTiger LilyandDay Lily, andHyacinth, andDog-toothed-Violet,andSolomon’s Seal, and, yes,Asparagus, all belong to the same family.”
“Oh,” murmured the girls, “to think that the onion and the lovely Lily-of-the-Valley are cousins and belong to the same family!”
“Yes, and Onion is cousin ofEaster Lily, andTuliptoo,” Bet added.
“What about Water Lilies?” asked one of the girls.
“Now,” answered Bouncing Bet, “you’ve mentioned another member of the same family as the onion, for by this time, no doubt, you have guessed that I am naming members of theLilyfamily.Water Lilyis one of their greatest beauties. How she ever manages to be so fragrant, so lovely, living in mire and slime, only her Maker knows. She is our dearest Water Baby.”
“Oh, please tell us of more Water Babies,” begged the girls.
“There’s a whole family of big water babies, that you know well,” Jack broke in. “That is theCattailfamily.”
“How interesting!” cried Mary Frances. “I thought cats didn’t like water.”
Just then the silvery bell of the fairy clock struck the half-hour and Jack turned toward all the fairy flower folks who were present.
“Time’s up! Thank you, kind friends,” said he, “and now, after a dance, you may go.”
With that, the sweetest music the girls had ever heard began to play, and the fairies began to dance, keeping time perfectly with their tiny feet.
“I’m afraid it’s a dream, and that I’ll wake up,” whispered Eleanor to Mary Frances.
“So am I!” Mary Frances whispered back, and took hold of her little friend’s hand.
Suddenly the music stopped and every fairy except Jack and Bet disappeared.
“It was so beautiful,” said Mary Frances, still speaking in a whisper, “that we can never thank you.”
“We’re so glad you enjoyed our little surprise,” Jack replied, “for it shows how you love us flowers. Now I want to tell you something about the way in which we grow, and how to feed us. You have a garden, and I feel certain you would like to hear about that.”
“I’ve studied quite a little about seed-babies,” replied Mary Frances. “I love the little things dearly.”
“Good,” cried Bet; “you’ll love them even more after you’ve heard what Jack is going to tell you.”
“Do water babies grow in the same way as other plant babies?” asked Mary Frances.
“In quite the same way,” replied Jack. “I’m going to show you how the roots of plants take up the food needed, and how the leaves help make that food right for their digestion.”
“Why, I thought—” began Eleanor.
“Yes?” asked Jack, expectantly.
“I thought that plants breathed with their leaves.”
“Well, they do breathe with their leaves too, but they also breathe with their stem surface; or, in trees, with the surface of the trunk. In fact, they breathe all over.”
“I know,” said Eleanor, “that I’ve been taught to wash the leaves of house plants in order that the leaves might get air.”
“Very wise, indeed,” said Jack. “Air is very,very important to the leaves, as you will see when I have told you about their way of growing.”
Just then he took a tiny silver bugle from his shoulder and blew a long note.
Four little elves appeared. They were dressed in light brown and dark brown leaves. On their heads, each wore a cap of a different color. One was red; one was yellow; one, tan; and one, pink. They all stood “attention,” looking at Jack.
“Bring in the magic tree,” said Jack, and off ran the elves.
In a moment they returned, half carrying and half dragging a plant which looked like a tiny tree. It was growing in a glass tub, which, although small, seemed a heavy burden for the little fellows.
“Oh!” Mary Frances sprang up. “Oh, please, let me help,” she begged as she stooped down to take it.
“Better not, better not,” warned Jack. “That is a fairy tub and will go to pieces if you touch it.”
By that time the little elves had it in place, and they smiled their thanks to Mary Frances as theywiped the perspiration from their foreheads with tiny handkerchiefs made of colored Autumn leaves.
Jack jumped down from his pulpit.
“That will do, attendants,” he said. “Thank you,” and the little elves ran away.
“We have here,” he continued, “a fairy view of the way in which plants grow. Come, Bet!”
With that, both the little fairies sprang to the top of the tub, and a wonderful thing happened.
The tub and the tree began to grow so fast that before you could count three, they were as high as the girls’ knees, and before you could count seven, the top of the tree was even with Eleanor’s head.
“That’s tall enough, tree,” cried Jack, and both tub and tree stopped growing.
“Can you see, young ladies,” he asked as he bent over the side; “can you see the roots of the magic tree through the glass?”
The girls could see them plainly.
“Did you notice how they pushed their way through the stones and pieces of rock, and even moved them as they grew!”
“I did!” answered each of the girls.
“I thought it wonderful,” continued Mary Frances, “but I supposed it was a fairy way of growing.”
“No,” Jack shook his head; “that is the way all plants grow, whether small or large, only they grow slowly. Notice the smallest roots. They are hollow and have very thin delicate coverings.”
“You will see why in a minute,” he went on, “but now I wish to call your attention to something else. In between the stones and sand you will notice decaying leaves and——”
“Humus!” cried Mary Frances jumping up in excitement.
“Good!” he said. “Humus soup is what the plants eat. The tiny roots draw it up through their thin walls. In the humus soup is not only decaying vegetable matter, but very tiny bits of mineral matter, too—like pepper and salt for the plant, maybe.”
The girls laughed.
“Listen!” he went on earnestly; “for any plant to produce one pound of dry matter, the roots must take up from 300 to 500 pounds of water.”
“Oh, now, I see why plants must have water,” said Mary Frances. “Now, I understand why it isso necessary to cultivate—to hold the moisture in the ground.”
“To make humus soup,” Eleanor added.
“Fine!” cried Jack, rubbing his tiny hands in glee. “It’s splendid to teach such interested persons. It took human beings many, many years to find these things out. If only their eyes and ears had been open to us fairy folks, it wouldn’t have taken so long.”
“Now, human people, in growing garden plants, want to give them the best kinds of food,” he continued. “So, after studying to find out what is in the soil that plants need most, they have gathered those things together from various places, and have made Commercial Fertilizers.
“They are to be had in a powdered form, and are very concentrated plant food. Nothing is better to use, however, than barnyard manures.”
“One of the best commercial fertilizers is Nitrate of Soda.” (See Chapter LVIII entitled, “Some Hints on Growing Vegetables.”)