“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—
The Leaf-Mill
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 into starch, 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 called chlor-o-phyll bodies.
The leaf-mill grinding stones are turned by sunshine power. Without sunshine they cannot work.