The First Book of Farming

o

ROOTS

lants, or, what work do th

ants he will agree that one function of the roots of plan

are exposed to the air soon wilts, while the one whose roots were placed in water keeps fresh. You have noticed how a potted plant will wilt if the soil in the pot is allowed to become

ess for a few weeks (see Fig. 5). The plants in the garden soil will grow larger than those in the sand. The roots evidently must get food from the soil and t

p a flower stalk, blossomed and produced seeds. If you are successful, cut the root in two and notice that instead of being hard and fleshy like the young radish or turnip, it

hen, is to store food for t

k these off and plant them in soil and you have a number of new plants. If you can get the material, repeat this experiment with roots of horse-radish, raspberry, blackberry or dahlia. From this we see that it

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the soil, the plants in A are suffering f

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od from the soil. Both boxes wer

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stored food has been used to

dle shaded seed

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root producing

important things that roo

plants firm

er from the soi

d from the soil

ood for the future

produce n

s question it will be necessary to study the

GROWTH

ut four or five inches from the base of the plant. It will be well to have this hole run across the row rather than lengthwise with it. Then with the pitcher pour water about the base of the plant and wash the soil away from the roots. Gently loosening the soil with the sharpened stick will hasten this work. In this way carefully expose the roots along the side of the hole, tracing them as far as possible laterally and as deep as possible, taking care to loosen them as litt

the root system of each plant

the soil are m

they penetra

come to the sur

out sidewise or late

you will give the following answers: "In the upper layer." "In the surfac

ant one. Most of the roots will be formed in that

ig. 8.) The author has traced the roots of cowpea and soy bean plants to depths of five and six feet, corn roots four and five feet, parsnips over six feet. The sweet-potato r

and little rootlets from these will be found reaching up as near the surface as there is a supply of moisture. After a continued period of

oots extending three, four, five and even six or more feet from the plant. They have numerous branches and

lant. But before going on with that question, let us stop right here and see whether we cannot find some very important lessons for the farmer and plant gr

ed? It tells him that plowing tends to bring about the soil conditions which are favorable to the growth and development of roots. Therefore, the deeper

of five or six feet in the soil? To answer this question it will be necessary for us to kn

his crop to injure as few of these roots as possible. In some parts of the country, particularly in the South, the tool commonly used for field cultivation is a small plow. This

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e roots is in the plowed soil. Many of t

5 feet, and others come to the

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location, extent and de

e plow and wash away the soil from over the plow (see Fig. 10), and see where the roots are. We will find that the plow-point runs under many strong-feeding lateral roots and tears them off, thus checking the feeding power of the

s filled with their branches and rootlets? This fact has a bearing on the application of manures and fertilizers. It tells the farmer that when he applies the man

ash the soil away from some seedlings that have been growing

ssons of deep, thorough plowing, careful shallow after-cultiv

abit of growth of roots, and can perhaps tell som

thoroughly every part of the soil, and to such distances, that they hold with a grip that m

ng out through the soil that the roots are able to

How did they manage to reach out into the soil so far from the plant? Or where does the roo

r on the opposite edge of the plate. At one end of the piece of cloth cut two slits on opposite sides about an inch down from the end and reaching nearly to the middle. Wet the cloth and spread it on the glass. Take one of the sprouted seeds, lay it on the cloth, tie pieces of thread around the main root at intervals of one-quarter inch from tip to seed. Tie carefully, so that the root will not be injured. Place the second pane of glass over the roots, letting the edge come just below the seed, slipping in the slivers of wood to prevent the glass crushing the roots. Wrap the two fl

seeds, on dark cloth, placed in plates and kept moist. Notice the fuzz or mass of root hairs near the ends of the tender roots of the seedlings (Fig. 13). Plant similar seed in sand or soil, and when they have started to grow pull them up and notice how difficult it is to remove all of the sand or dirt from the roots. This is because the delicate root hairs cling so closely to the soil grains. The root hairs are absorbing moisture laden with plant food f

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o the roots of plants when used for after-cultivatio

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show how quickly the roots reach out into the soil

. Next, from the lower end of the candle cut a piece about one-half inch long. Bore a hole in this just the size of the glass tube. Now soften one end of the piece of candle with the hole in it and stick it on to the small end of the egg so that the hole in the candle comes over the hole in the egg. Heat the wire, and with it solder the piece of candle more firmly to the egg, making a water-tight joint. Place the glass tube in the hole in the piece of candle, pushing it down till it touches the egg. Then, with the heated wire, solder the tube firmly in place. Now run the wire down the tube and break the skin of the egg just u

with water colored with a few drops of red ink. Fill the egg-shell partly full of clear water and set it on the bottle of colored water. Colored water will gradually pass through the membrane of the egg and color the water in the shell. Prepare another egg in the same way, but put

ECESSARY FOR

oots do for plants and a little about how the

necessary for the

s to penetrate the soil and hold the plant fi

s the soil is tender and easily injured. Therefor

root is to take moisture from the s

s to take food from the soil. Therefore, it

r work in cold weather. Ther

ded by roots we will

oil. This is to prevent the absorption of air. In a few days roots will appear on the slip in the hydrant water, while only a very few short ones, if any, will appear in the boiled water, and they will soon cease growing. Why is this? To answer this question, try another experiment. Take two bottles, filled as before, one with hydrant water and the other with boiled water; drop into each a slip of glass or a spoon or piece of metal long enough so that one end will

red very thoroughly, until it is about the consistency of cake batter. Keep the sand and puddled clay moist; do not allow the clay to crack, which it will do if it dries. The cuttings in the sand will strike root and grow, while most, if

develop and do their work roots

are necessary for the growth and

, mell

ist

d with availab

rm s

ilated

ent are the most important truths of agriculture, or they are the foundation truths or principles upon which all agriculture is based. Having found these conditions, the next m

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hotograph was taken the tip of the root was ? inch from the lowest thread. The g

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d on dark cloth. To

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up into the egg through the skin, or membrane, and forced th

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ose (see pa