Abstract
PHENOMENA OF PLANT-LIFE.—The expansive power of growing vegetable tissue is something marvellous, if The experiments undertaken by Mr. Clark, president of the State Agricultural College of Massachusetts, are perfectly trustworthy. If his appliance for measuring the force exerted by a growing pumpkin was not at fault, the greatest weight lifted by the pumpkin in the course of its development was nearly two-and-a-half tons. Apparently the greatest care was taken to arrive at the truth, and we have no reason to doubt the accuracy of the statements contained in Mr. Clark's paper which was presented to the Massachusetts Board of Agriculture But in our ignorance of the phenomena of plant life we should like to see the observations repeated. At the end of the experiment alluded to the soil was carefully washed from the roots of the pumpkin vine, and the entire system of roots spread out upon the floor of a large room and carefully measured. In addition to the main root, roots were formed at each joint or node. The total length of root developed was calculated to be over fifteen miles; and the time the plant was growing, four months. During the greater part of the time, of course, the rate of growth was relatively slow, but the maximum rate was computed at not less than one thousand feet of root per day.
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Our Botanical Column . Nature 12, 88 (1875). https://doi.org/10.1038/012088a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/012088a0