HOW A PLANT’S FOOD IS COOKED
Some time ago we learned that the little root hairs, by means of their acid, are able to make a sort of broth from the earthy materials which they could not swallow in a solid state.
But before this broth is really quite fit for plant food, it needs even more preparation.
Why do we eat and drink, do you suppose?
“Because we are hungry.” That is the direct reason, of course. But we are made hungry so that we shall be forced to eat; for when we eat, we take into our bodies the material that is needed to build them up,—to feed the cells which make the flesh and bone and muscle.
And this is just why the plant eats and drinks. It needs constantly fresh nourishment for its little cells, so that these can live, and grow strong enough to make the new cells which go to form, not bone and flesh and muscle, as with you children, but fresh roots and stem and leaves and flowers and fruits.
If these little cells were not fed, they would die, and the plant would cease to live also.
And now what do you think happens to the broth that has been taken in from the earth by the root hairs?
As we have said, this broth needs a little more preparation before it is quite fit for plant food. What it really wants is some cooking.
Perhaps you can guess that the great fire before which all plant food is cooked is the sun.