11

The Food Factory

Did you know that plants make food for themselves? You may be surprised, when you read this story, to find out that you have eaten some of their food.

Mary Jane was watering the grass while her grandmother sat on the porch and sewed.

“Grandmother,” called Mary Jane, “this grass has enough water. Now I will water your plants.”

“My plants?” smiled Grandmother. “You have been watering them. Every growing thing that is not an animal is a plant. Flowers and grass and trees and pumpkins are all plants.”

“Oh,” cried Mary Jane, “may I pull up just one grass plant and look at it?”

“Yes, indeed,” said Grandmother.

Mary Jane pulled up one of the little plants. At the top were two blades of grass, and at the bottom was a thick root with tiny hairs on it.

After Mary Jane had looked at the grass plant, she said,“Now, Grandmother, I will water your flower plants, ”The little girl was very careful to get all the water on the plants and not a drop on herself. So, when she had finished, Grandmother gave her a beautiful peach.

“Grandmother,” said Mary Jane, as she ate her peach, “you always say that I must eat good food so that I will grow and be strong. How do plants grow without eating?”

“Oh, but they do eat,” said Grandmother.

“Where do they get their food?” asked the surprised little girl.

“Plants make their food,”answered Grandmother, “Each plant is like a factory. Now, of course,any kind of factory must have something to work with.”

Mary Jane began to laugh. “Yes,” she said. “You can't make something out of nothing.”

“No, indeed,” said Grandmother. “The food factory makes its food from air, water, and parts of the ground.”

“Why, the food must be like mud pies, Grandmother!”cried Mary Jane. “Don't you remember when I used to make beautiful pies from the dirt in your back yard?”

“Oh, but, Mary Jane,” answered Grandmother,“it is only some things in the ground that help the plant to grow.”

“How does the plant get these things from the ground?” asked Mary Jane.

Grandmother said,“The rain water that soaks into the earth helps. It mixes with the things in the ground that the plant needs. This water soaks into the roots of the plant and is carried into the leaves, where the food is made.

“When rain does not fall for many days, the ground gets so dry that we have to put water wherever plants are growing.

“But there is something else a plant must have before it can make food.

“A plant must have sunlight.”

“Oh!” cried Mary Jane. “The sun is hot. Does it cook the plant's food, just as fire cooks our food? ”

“No,”said Grandmother.“Plants need heat, but the heat does not cook the food. We do not know just how the food is made.

“We only know that a plant cannot make food without sunlight, even though it has air and water.”

“I wish I knew how plant food tastes,” said Mary Jane.

“Oh, Mary Jane!” laughed Grandmother. “You eat plant food almost every day of your life.

“Plants do not use all the food they make. They store some of it in their leaves and stems and seeds.

“Some plants, like the potato plant, the turnip, and the carrot,store extra food under the ground. This extra food is what we eat.”

Mary Jane thought about all the things her grandmother had told her. Then she ran off to look at the growing things in the garden.

1. What three things must a plant have to make its food?

2. Where do plants store food?

3. Name three plants which store food under the ground.