METABOLIC • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Metabolic

... poisons and medicines into trees, it seems to me that a very firm stand ought to be taken by all responsible men who know anything about plant pathology. We know that a poison injected into a tree must either act injuriously right there upon the cells of the tree, or else must undergo metabolic changes. A tree cannot use anything that is thrown into it, poison or food or anything else, until it has undergone a metabolic change; you must have a distinct, definite chemical process taking place and we ought to state that most of the substances which are alleged to be of ...

— Northern Nut Growers Association, Report of the Proceedings at the Third Annual Meeting • Northern Nut Growers Association