[Footnote 3: The Irish potato will very likely be mentioned as an example
of a fleshy root. The teacher can say that this will be explained later.]


2. _Fleshy Roots_.--The scholars are already familiar with the storing
of food for the seedling in or around the cotyledons, and will readily
understand that these roots are storehouses of food for the plant. The
Turnip, Carrot, and Beet are _biennials_; that is, their growth is
continued through two seasons. In the first year, they make a vigorous
growth of leaves alone, and the surplus food is carried to the root in the
form of a syrup, and there stored, having been changed into starch, or
something very similar. At the end of the first season, the root is filled
with food, prepared for the next year, so that the plant can live on its
reserve fund and devote its whole attention to flowering. These roots
are often good food for animals. There are some plants that store their
surplus food in their roots year after year, using up in each season the
store of the former one, and forming new roots continually. The Sweet
Potato is an example of this class. These are _perennials_. The food in
perennials, however, is usually stored in stems, rather than in roots, as
in trees. _Annuals_ are generally fibrous-rooted, and the plant dies after
its first year. The following experiment will serve as an illustration of
the way in which the food stored in fleshy roots is utilized for growth.

Cut off the tapering end of a carrot and scoop out the inside of the
larger half in the form of a vase, leaving about half of the flesh behind.
Put strings through the upper rim, fill the carrot cup with water, and
hang it up in a sunny window. Keep it constantly full of water. The
leaf-buds below will put forth, and grow into leafy shoots, which, turning
upwards, soon hide the vase in a green circle. This is because the dry,