Cornell XDlniversit^ Xibrar^ IRew l?orft State College of Hfiriculture Sf....2jo..^f zb.Ja/m... 8806 Cornell University Library QK 49.C45 Buds, stems and roots. 3 1924 001 707 144 Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924001707144 Young folk's Library of Choice Literature Buds, Stems AND Roots. BY ANNIE CHASE ILLUSTRATED EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY BOSTON New York Chicago San Francisco r COl'^'RIGHTED Bv EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING -COMPANY. 1897- CONTENTS. Page Buds. . 7 The End Bud Speaks . . ... 13 Scars 20 A True Story ... .... 25 The Side Buds Speak . . 29 Story of a Lilac Bud .36 Mamie's Dream about Seed Buds .... 39 The Maple's Story 4fi Some Other Buds . 55 Some Underground Buds . .... 60 A Potato's Story . . 62 More Underground Buds ... ... 69 Some Buds in Thick Jackets 73 Roots, "The Little Miners" . . . . 80 Boot Caps . . ... 84 A Fable ... 86 Some Roots who were Misers . . , . 89 The Plant's Knitting Work . 97 Story of a Cell . . . . .102 Stems 106 Story of a Stick of Wood 113 Shapes of Stems . . 117 Story of a Vine ... . 118 Habits of Stems . , , • 122 TO TEACHERS. This little book does not claim to be exhaustive, but aims at bringing the children into an attitude of appreciation of plant life, its laws of growth and the wonders of its development. A few seeds or plants brought into the school-room, and allowed to develop there, the children watching each stage of progress, will teach more than hundreds of wonderful buds and stems ruthlessly dissected (?) by little hands already too eager to destroy. That sort of botany which consists merely of pulling a wonder- ful blossom to pieces, ania wasting its loveliness, that the child may count its petals and see thknumber written down on a blackboard, is of questionable value. Eor studies of seedlings, the old ways of planting in boxes placed in the window, or in sponges or glasses of sand, are all of them good, but a little outdoor garden where the plants can develop naturally, will please the children better, and, in almost every case, will teach them more ; especially if the children are taught to tend their plant friends thou/jhtfully . Hoping the following pages will prove of some help to the little' people under your care, I remain. Sincerely yours, Thk AuTHOlt, Here we are! Big buds, little buds, fat buds, lean buds, jolly buds, sober buds. We' are ^de awake now, and ready for business. Ho ! lio ! you can not guess one half we hold in our wise heads. 8 BUDS, STEMS AND EOOTS. Why! our heads ai'e so full they are bursting! We must do our work just right, or there ^will be no beautifu.1, green leaves next summer, nor any plants, nor flo^v^ers. But "we do not fro^wn nor fret. The roots and branches find food for us, the kind sun smiles on us, the ^N^ind rocks us, and we do have such nice times that our ^work seems like ]3lay. BUDS, STEMS AND ROOTS. 9 All last summer the kind branclies gathered and stored up food for us. s You see vie are covered A\rith little scale-like leaves to keep us ^warm. Sometimes these scales are lined w^ith soft fur. Have you noticed that the horse-chestnut buds are 10 BUDS, STEMS AND KOOTS. covered with something T^hich looks like ^v^ax? This is to keep out the ^wet. The old tree knows what she is about; she puts it there to keep her baby buds from softening and spoiling. But some trees and shrubs have such brave little buds that they do not need cover- ing. There the buds sit close to the bark, and sometimes BX'OS. STEMS AND ROOTS. 11 hidden under it, and rock away in the cold winds nntil spring conies. Some buds have a qneer liabit of hiding -now, wliere do you think? \, "^^ In the liollow stem of the leaf, as yon see in the pic- ture. You would think the tree had not a bud for next year; 12 BUDS, STEMS AXl) HOOTS. but when the leaA^es drop, there sit the little buds. We leaf buds are all toss- ing off our blankets now. Beside leaf buds, there are mixed buds with both leaves and flo^wers ^wrapped up in them. You will learn about flower buds in another book. A DRAWlMi LESSON. THE END BUD SPEAKS. Do not think I am taking on airs ^vs^hen I say I, the End Bud, or, as ^se men call me, the Terminal Bud, am a very ^v^ise person. I make the main stem. Week after week, 13 14 BUDS STEMS AND ROOTS. and year after year I work away at it, and it grows longer every day. This is the ^v^ay I work : I burst open and liang out a number of leaves. Then I form into a bud BUDS, STEMS AXn ROOTS. 15 again right on the end of the stem. That makes the branch a little longer. Next year I burst open again, hang out more leaves, and again form into a bud right on the end. That makes the branch longer still. Next year I do the same work. Here is a branch from a horse-chestnut tree. 16 BUDS, STEMS AND ROOTS. Do you see the little scars on the sides of the stem? I hung out t^v^o leaves there last summer. Then I made the stem longer, and hung out more leaves where you see the next scar. Then I formed into ^ a great bud again on the end of the stem, as you see me in the picture. BUDS, STEMS AND ROOTS. 17 Wherever I hung out a leaf I left a bud for next year, cuddled closely down at the end of the leaf stem. These buds gre^v some, then kept very quiet vilciile the leaves dropped off and the cold winter winds blew. You can see these buds in the picture of the long 18 BUDS, STFMS AND ROOTS. branch, keeping their seats where the leaves dropped off and left soars. Each one of these buds will form a branch next summer. They will hang out leaves as I do, and make their t^wigs gro^v^ longer just as I did. See, the bud near the lower end of the branch has knitted a long t^vig already. By and by he will be a BUDS, STEMS AND ROOTS. 19 long, s^v^reeping branch with lots of children and grand- children branches of his own. Every season the End Bud of the Horse-chestnut had a number of leaves and stems curled up inside his scales. But at last a spring came when he had something more than folded leaves inside his vrise head. He had a cluster of blos- soms hidden there. ' nuns, STEMS and hoots. 21 They werc^ very small, and were covered v^^itli fur to keep out the cold; but there they were; and ho^vv proud the bud was of them ! By and by, the leaves hung themselves out in the air, and shook out their plaited folds. After the It^aves A^^ere all out, the' blossom stood up straight, and began to grow. By and by, the blossom dropped off and left a round, dark scar. 22 BUDS, STKMS AXI) HOOTS. That scar you can see where the branch is forked. After the End Bud had done so much work and crowned it ^th a blossom, he thought he would leave t^wo side buds to work for him. So he left the buds as you see them on each side of the flo^v\^er scar. Next year there were t^wo branches where there had been but one. BUUS, 8TEMS AND ROOTS. 23 The rings around the stems were made by the bud scales. You see the tree is so fond of her buds, and their leaves and blossoms, that she writes their names all down upon her stems. You can read them from your twig or from the pic- ture; leaf scars, bud scale scars, and flower scars. If you have patience enough, you can count the 24 BUDS, STEMS AND ROOTS. n limber of blossoms that longest bough of the horse- chestnut has hung out in the spring air all its life. A TRUE STORY. A bud at the end of a twig once began to grow too fast. The sun ^^as so ^v^^arln he crept out of his crib alto- gether too soon. One night a cruel frost came and pinched and nipped our poor little hero till he was quite dead. 26 BUDS, STEMS AND ROOTS. A robin came with his "Cheer up! cheer up! cheer up!" but poor Bud could not be awakened, and all the sun's smiles did no good. "Oh, dear!" sighed the branch, "I depended upon that big, strong bud so much. No^v\r I shall be dwarfed and crooked." And April pitied the branch so much she shed some raindrops. "No, you shall not be hurt;" said a voice. It came from a tiny bud BUDS, STEMS AND ROOTS. 27 ^which had grown close beside the big bud. "I am small and A\^eak," said the tiny bud; "but if you will give me all I wsnat to eat, I will see what I can do for you." "I did not have life enough to start before, because the big bud ate up nearly all the s^veet juices." The branch did her best, the roots did their best, the rain did its best. And Avhat do you think? The tiny bud grew^ so large 28 nUDS. STKMS AND ROOTS. and strong that she hung out four leaves through the summer, and made the branch almost as straight as it would have been had the end bud not died. The end bud 1[ell to the ground, turned into dust, and was finally dra^vn up through the roots into the tree again. But it took a long, long time, and he learned not to he impatient. THE SIDE BUDS SPEAK. We, Side Buds, are smart, little people, too, though we must say the End Bud has the start of us. You see us in the picture sitting at the ends of the leaf stems. When these leaves drop 29 30 BUDS, STEMS AND ROOTS. off, we shall still sit there until next year. Then ^^^e shall each begin to make a branch of our In this twig of basswood, you see ^^e are sitting on the stem, one bud on one side, another, bud on the other side, higher up; a third on the same side as the first, higher up, and so on. The branches will come BUDS, STEMS AND ROOTS. 31 oat from the buds in the same ^way. So the new bough will look like this: N"o^\^ look at this picture of a maple twig on the next page, or, if you can find one, look at a twig of real "live" maple. 32 BUDS, STEMS AND ROOTS. See, the buds are sitting opposite each other like little t^v^ins. The branches ^will grow out from these bnds. So the new bough will look some- thing like this: BUDS, STEMS AND KOOTS. 33 Can you find some t^s^igs in your yard, or in the fields, ^th buds sitting opposite like these, and buds sitting alternately like those on the bassT^ood ? If you can, you will be able to tell just where the ;V1 B'DS. STEMS AND ROOTS. branches next year are coming out. Is it not fun to read the trees' fortunes in this ^way? Sometimes a bud drops off; then the stem loses a whole new branch. Some trees have more than one side bad at the end of each leaf-stem. The maple often has three or four such buds in almost every little leaf scar. And see! this bit of .AA BUDS, STEMS AND BOOTS. 35 tioneysnckle has a T^^hole cro^wd of buds at the foot of each leaf. THE STORY OF A LILAC BUD. A Lilac tree placed her buds side by side and said : "Next year I shall have twin branches all up and down these stems." But some of her buds tell ill and died, and dropped down to the earth. BUDS, STEMS AND ROOTS. 37 " What shall I do? " sobbed the Lilac tree, "what shall I do? Now my branches will not be even; there will be some missing. How shabby I shall look!" "Oh! now I wouldn't mind," said a cherry tree beside; her "^we are all in much the same fix, my friend, and we must make the best of it." So Lilac did make the best of it, and covered her top 38 BUDS, STEMS AND ROOTS. ^with beautiful, smiling blos- soms. "Oh, what a beautiful Lilac!" said a lady in May; "it is so perfect in form, and so full of blossoms." And Lilac felt well paid for looking on the bright side of her troubles. MAMIE'S DREAM. Mamie had been learning all about leaf buds on the branches of trees and shrubs. She kne^w just what ^work the end buds did. She kne^w all about the side buds, and ^^hat they could do. 39 40 BUDS, STEMS AND UOOTS. She Avas going into the garden to plant a few Scar- let Beans and Morning Glories. The sun shone warm and bright, and Mamie lay doA^n on a large rock to think about the best place for her seeds. She fell fast asleep, and dreamed such a funny dream that she A^anted me to tell you all about it. One little bean sat up and began to talk. BUDS, STEMS AND HOOTS. 41 Said he: "Don't for- get the buds hidden (i-wsij in seeds, little girl. "If you soak my head in warm water, you will be surprised to find how much there is in it. "It "will soon spread open and look like this : " Here a bean, who seemed to be an artist, step- ped up and drew [^^ ?/ this picture, Avhich 42 BUDS, STEMS AND HOOTS. looks exactly like a bean when it is beginning to grow. "Yon see there is a bnd in my head," said the bean. "Oh! oo! there is," said Mamie. "All, seeds have seed leaves hidden in them," said the bean; "and as soon as they begin to grow up to the sunshine a bud appears. BUDS, STEMS AND ROOTS. 40 Every tree, and shrub, and plant begins with this first bud," said the bean. With that he made a boA^^ and tumbled heels-over- head to the ground. Then Mamie av^oke, and, sure enough, there were her beans on the ground beside her. She planted them, with the Morning Glory seeds, close beside the wall. When they came up, there 44 BUDS, STEMS AND ROOTS. were the buds, just as the bean had told her in her dream. "Do the flowers and grasses and the great trees all grow from tiny buds hidden in seeds?" said Mamie aloud. BUDS, STEMS AND ROOTS. 45 And a Maple tree above her head ^\^aved its boughs and whispered. "Yes," as well as it could. A DRAWING LESSON. THE MAPLE'S STORY. First there was a seed, then a bud, then a stem and root, then leaves, then more buds, till there stood a tree, large, and strong, and beauti- ful. Let us hear this tree's history. BUDS, STEMS AND HOOTS. 47 A little Maple seed tlew a^vay on its tiny wing. It lay down to rest beside a grey A\^all in the meadow, and fell fast asleep. When it a^woke, a soft rain y^SiS falling, and it stretched its crumpled, little seed leaves, then pushed a stem out of its covering, and down into the soil. "Ha, ha!" laughed the rain in such jolly tones, that 48 BUDS, STEMS AND HOOTS. the seed lea\"es stretched theniselves still more, and the stem greAv longer. How did such a baby plant know enough to pnsh its stem into the ground, and its leaves into the sun- shine ? BUDS, STEMS ANT) ROOTS. 49 "We want more food," called the leaves from their place in the sunshine. "Yon shall have it," said the stem, digging down into the soil until it became a root. 50 BUDS, STEMS AND ROOTS. But one root could not dra^w up food enough for the growing leaves; so the stem sent out little branches, tell- ing them to w^ork ^^ith all their might. And they did work. The leaves spread out and gre^w broader. Then! Oh Joy! A little bud grew right between the t'wo leaves. How proud the little plant "was! BUDS, STKAIS AND ROOTS. Til How the stem did straighten itself and grow! By and by the baby bad grew, and one day, when tlie sun shone its brightest, the bud opened into two beauti- ful leaves. 62 BUnS, STEMS AXl) ROOTS. In time another bud came bet^ween these t^^o leaves. It grew, like the first, into t^wo more leaves. So the little plant kept on BUDS, STEMS AND ROOTS. 53 and on, working- and rejoic- ing, working and rejoicing. NoAA^ it is a great tree and can shelter the wild birds, and wave great branches in the w^ind. Bnt does it sit idle now, do you think? No, indeed! It is working away harder than ever with roots, stems, branches and buds. It has hung out a wreath of red flowers this week that it may form some seeds. 54 BUDS, STEMS A\D HOOTS. Did yoiL notice those little Maples there by the wall ? Those are the children and grandchildren of this very Maple. I^o^w y^e must leave our tree climbing np, up, up, and always by a little bud at the end of her stem. SOME OTHER BUDS. When your niamnia, or papa, or the gardener pulled up the Dahlia bulbs last fall, did , you notice some small buds on the stems close doA^^n to the roots? Those buds are all the 65 56 BUDS, STEMS AND ROOTS. plant depends on for next year. The stout, thick roots are full of nice food for these bud babies. Now that spring is here, the roots begin to send the juices up to the buds, and the buds begin to swell, and grow red in the face. We must set the roots in the ground no^\^ and give them plenty of water, or the roots will use up all the BUDS, STEMS AND ROOTS. 57 food they have, and the baby buds will choke to death. You see these buds are not like the tree buds. They do not like to be rocked or covered v^ith snow, or pelted with cold rain v^hile they sleep. They like much better to be laid away in some v^arm, dark nook. The buds of the great red Peony in grandma's garden are just such tender babies. They hide themselves in 58 BUDS, STEMS AND EOOTS. the warm earth tor tear of trost bites. '' Oh ! " you say, "I thought the roots sprouted." No ; the roots only nourish the bud at the bottom of the stem till it is pushed up above the ground. The roots keep on sending up s'weet, strengthening food till the bud grows so strong and brave it hangs out great leaves. When the sun grows quite warm, and the birds are BUDS, STEMS AND ROOTS. 59 sin^-iiig, the bad, grown novi into leaves and stems, feels new life and gladness, and she crowns herself with a great blossom. So you see that plants, and even shrubs and trees, are only buds grown up, and crovrned v^ith blossoms and fruits. SOME UNDERGROUND BUDS. You thought the potato you had for dinner to-day T^as the root of the plant you sa'w swaying in the "wind last summer, did you not? It was not a root ; it was a stem, and those little dents, or "eyes," in it were the buds. "What funny stems and BUnS, STEMS AND ROOTS. 61 buds!" you say; "and all under ground." Yes, the Potato has a queer AA^ay of doing her house work. She stores up food enough for the buds in her under- ground stems, and lets her leaves and stems above the ground all die off. Then she lets her roots die too, and there is nothing but the thick, rounded stem, or potato, with its queer buds, or "eyes," as the farmer calls them. POTATO'S STORY. ''You'll never grow again," said an apple to a potato one day in winter. "Yon haven't life enough to open your eyes," said the saucy apple. "Ha! ha!" laughed the potato, sleepily. "You haven't any roots." RIJDS, STKMS AND KOOTS. 63 "No; all dead," said the potato. "You haven't any stems." "Haven't I?" said the potato, "well, I used to be a stem myself." "You're crazy," said the apple. Just then a sunbeam came in at a crevice. Potato rolled over and winked one of his funny eyes, which made the apple laugh so that she softened one of her sides. 64 BUDS, STEMS AND HOOTS. "Now, I have seeds," said the apple as soon as she could speak; "but you have nothing of the kind; your heart is like your head, full of not much of anything but starch and v^ater." The potato v/'inked an- other eye at this and laughed softly. Just then Tom and Kitty came into the cellar for apples, and the apple rolled av^ay into a corner to hide. BUDS, STEMS AND ROOTS. 65 "I am so pretty, toof said the apple, T^^hen the chil- dren had gone. "See my red cheeks and my pretty form." But the potato shut both eyes tightly. "Yon are an ngly bro^\;\^n thing," said the apple, but the potato was fast asleep again. Next day the potato rolled over and looked the apple right in the face. 66 BUDS, STEMS AND ROOTS. "Oh! Oh!" squealed the apple, "your eyes look strangely." "They are growing," said the potato in a queer voice And, sure enough, they vrere gro^ng, and they kept on growing. "Nice seedlings, these!" said Farmer G-rey , one morn- ing. "Here is one all sprouted;" and away v^ent our potato, with others, to the field to be planted. BUDS, STEMS AND KOOTS. 67 The apple lay still and thought about it. She thought, and thought, and thought, till she grew old, and faded, and Av^rinkled. and broT^ner than the pota- to had ever been. One day, in summer, she was tossed out into a field, with other things ^^rhich had been cleared out of the cellar There, on her right, was her old friend, the potato, 68 BUDS, STEMS ANT) ROOTS. gro^wn tall, and green, and croAA^ned ^th flowers. The poor apple hid her- self with her seeds in the earth as qnickly as she could. In time she grew to be a tree, but she was never again known to laugh at homely people. Bureau Nature Study, "OBNFJX University, Ithaca, N. /. MORE UNDERGROUND BUDS. Why! this stalk of Solo- mon's Seal is coining np nearly an inch from the spot where we found it last year. How can that be? Let us dig around it a bit and find out. 69 70 BUnS, STEMS AND ROOTS. Here is the stalk, or stem, running along under ground. At tlie bottom are the roots, and at the end is the bud. There the bud has slept through the long winter. Now it is pushing ahead, and lifting up its tip, to make its ^^ay up into the sunshine. You see that the last year's stalk is nearly an inch behind this new bud. s BUDS, STEMS AND ROOTS. 71 Look at the scar Adhere the stalk of the year before gre^^ up from just such a bud as the new one. Back of that is the mark of a bud and stalk of three years ago. Back of that, the scar of a bud and stalk of four years ago. ^ These scars look some- thing like seals, and have given the plant its name. By and by the oldest part of the stalk will die off. 72 BUDS, STEMS AND ROOTS. So we have found out your secret, little plant; you travel by pushing your bud ahead under the ground, and then bringing it up into the light to surprise us, as you did to-day. The Sweet Flag in the meadows, and the Iris by the brook, grow in this way. SOME BUDS IN THICK JACKETS. Before those leaves grew up from this Lily. Bulb, there ^v^as a bud nestled away down in the middle of it. A precious bud it ^was, ^with a lot of leaves and a wonder- ful blossom folded away in it. 73 74 BUDS, STEMS AND ROOTS. This precious treasure was AYrapped in thick jackets, or scales, which the leaves made from their thick ends last sum- mer. When cold T^^eather came, the tops of the leaves dried up and shook themselves off, but they left the thick part. The thick parts of the leaves clung around the BUDS, STEMS AND KOOTS. 75 bud and looked like scales. They kept the bud warm, and gave it food. BULB OF THE LILT. By and by the little bud cried, ''Let me out into the sunshine." 7ti BUDS, STEMS AND ROOTS. Then every jacket loos- ened itself a little, and up sprang the bnd into light and air. The onion bud wears a thick jacket, too, and is made up of ever so many thin ones. Each jacket, or scale, is so long it reaches around the whole bud. See these crocus buds. The one in the middle is the end bud. BUDS, STEMS AND BOOTS. 77 The others, at each side, are side buds. Did you ever notice those little, black, round balls on the stems of the tiger lily? Those blackballs are buds, covered ^v^ith such fat scales you v^ould never guess that they were scales. Those buds drop oft, form roots, and grow into plants all by themselves. SOME OTHER ODD LITTLE BUDS. Look at that elm upon the hill. Beside its long, drooping boughs, it has some little twigs growing from the trunk. They look like a vine running up the trunk. BUDS, STEMS AND ROOTS. 79 Tlie}^ are real branches, and they gvov^ from bnds. These buds sit on the out- side of the trunk. If the tree should be hurt at the top, they ^would gro^w into large, strong branches. Now that the top is all right, they grow just a little, and make a pretty wreath for the tree. ROOTS. ^ THE "LITTLE MINERS." y\^^ "We roots are miners," says a jolly root, speaking for all the roots. "We dig, dig, dig, in the moist, warm earth — for what ? "For gold? "No, no; for the sweet, rich juices the leaves, and stems, and flowers, need. 80 BUDS, STEMS AND RODTS. 81 •' We draw in the moisture and food throngh tiny hairs, which grow all over us, into our little cells. " From these cells we push the moisture and food up to the stems, and leaves, and flowers of the plant. "We are covered ^th a thin coat, or bark, not very much unlike the bark of a tree, or of any stem; except that it is much thinner and softer. 82 BUDS, STEMS AND KOOTS. "We know just ^what to gather to make the beautiful color in the flo^wers. "Wherever you see arose, or violet, or any lovely flower or leaf, just stop and think, little girls and boys, that v^e roots are at the bottom of all that loveliness. "If we stopped our vrork a moment, the beautiful rose would die. "Did you ever kno^v\^ a root foolish enough to push BUTIS, STEMS AND KOOTS 83 itself up, feet foremost, into the sunshine ^^here it did not belong? "No, yon never did and never will." Who taught all the mil- lions and billions of roots so much ^sdom ? A DKAWINti LESSON. ROOT CAPS. YoTi will laugh, I know, when you are told that roots wear caps. And AA^here do they wear their caps? On the tips of their toes; that is, down on the very ends of them. If 3^ou plant a bean in a sponge, so that you can see the tip of the root, you can find the cap if you will look closely. 84 BUDS, STEMS AND ROOTS. 85 The fiinny little cap ^ is made of hard skin, or tissue. The cap is to shield the little root as it digs down into the soil. The root grows just back of the cap, and pushes it along like a tiny snow- plough through the hard soil. If the ^se little root did not ^wear a cap on its toes, it could never make its way doAvn to ^vhere the food is stored in the earth. y