Quotation from: General Science

Written by: Bertha M. Clark


Plants get their food from the air, the soil, and moisture. From the
air, the leaves take carbon dioxide and water and transform them into
starchy food; from the soil, the roots take water rich in mineral
matters dissolved from the soil. From the substances thus gathered,
the plant lives and builds up its structure.


A food substance necessary to plant life and growth is nitrogen. Since
a vast store of nitrogen exists in the air, it would seem that plants
should never lack for this food, but most plants are unable to make
use of the boundless store of atmospheric nitrogen, because they do
not possess the power of abstracting nitrogen from the air. For this
reason, they have to depend solely upon nitrogenous compounds which
are present in the soil and are soluble in water. The soluble
nitrogenous soil compounds are absorbed by roots and are utilized by
plants for food.

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