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close this bookBetter Farming Series 02 - The Plant: the Stem; the Buds; the Leaves (FAO - INADES, 1976, 30 p.)
close this folderThe leaves
close this folderWhat are leaves for?
View the document(introduction...)
View the documentHow the leaf changes raw sap into elaborated sap
View the documentOrganic matter in the plant
View the documentThe plant breathes.
View the documentThe plant transpires.

(introduction...)

To live, a man feeds and breathes.
To live, a plant also feeds and breathes.

THE PLANT FEEDS

· The plant takes up food from the soil through its roots. It takes water and mineral salts from the soil (see Booklet No. 1, page 17). But it has to change the water and mineral salts.
A baby drinks only milk. Its hair grows and so do its arms and legs.
It becomes strong and heavy.
The baby has changed the milk in its stomach into hair, fat, muscles, etc.

· The leaf changes the water and mineral salts taken from the soil by the roots. Water and mineral salts make up the raw sap (see Booklet No. 1, page 19, and Booklet No. 2, page 21 ).
The leaf changes the raw sap into elaborated sap.
The leaf sends the elaborated sap into the buds, flowers, fruits, stem and roots.

The elaborated sap feeds the whole plant.

· The leaf changes the raw sap into elaborated sap.

The elaborated sap FEEDS:


The elaborated sap feeds