SIXTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VIII. 709 



Jefferson from the plantation, and Webster from the field is still at work. 

 He still continues to contribute the best brain and brawn of our modern 

 life. The profits which accrue to the farmer must come from two sources 

 — good prices and abundant crops. Over the first he has, unrortunately 

 little control, while over the latter he often has more influence than he 

 realizes. So far as corn is concerned, however, he has but little to gain 

 by experimenting with new and wonderous varieties of seed, for the 

 standard varieties are well kknown and universally planted. Nor can he 

 reasonably expect any increased profits by adopting new methods of 

 harvesting. Therefore he must seek for greater returns from his corn 

 field in improved methods of cultivation. This can be done only by adopt- 

 ing the most improved and scientific principles. "As ye sow so shall y© 

 reap," has been transformed by modern scientific research into "as ye 

 cultivate so shall ye harvest." To what extent water is essential in the 

 growing processes of both plants and animals is probably the range of 

 knowledge of all except the scientist especially interested in this phase of 

 life. In general, however, we know that plants cannot thrive without 

 sufficient moisture any more than stock can live without an abundance 

 of good water. Plants, like animals, require their food in liquid form;| 

 but unlike animals have no complex digestive apparatus, they are com- 

 pelled to send a multitude of roots and rootlets into the soil to seek 

 proper food wherever it may be dissolved in water. They are alike, how- 

 ever, in that they use large quantities of water to carry nutriment to the 

 growing parts and to remove the refuse that accumulates in the cell 

 building process. The plant requireg more moisture to dissolve its food, 

 hence must dispose of more moisture than the animal in its growing 

 processes. It disposes of this waste-bearing water through the pores of 

 its leaves. Thus a curent of water from the roots to the leaves is con- 

 stantly moving during the life of the plant. Removing the leaves, sever- 

 ing the stalk or cutting the roots stops the current and kills the plant. 

 How this vast quantity of water can be collected has much to do with the 

 sort of cultivation the corn requires. Prof. King of the Wisconsin State 

 university has proven in a series of scientific experiments that in this 

 temperate climate an acre of corn will discharge through its leaves 

 during a season 1191 tons of water. 



Careful investigation in the field will prove to any candid observer 

 that corn has no tap roots as is often claimed. When the seed sprouts' 

 a very fibrous 'and short lived root is thrown out directly from the 

 young sprout. About the time the blade reaches the atmosphere the next 

 set of roots make their appearance. They are thrown out just above the 

 seed and are in a whorl containing from three to ten rootlets. When the 

 plant is ready to "shoot" the soil to a depth of several inches is com- 

 pletely filled with these roots and there numerous branches within a 

 radius of three to eight feet of the stalk. These moisture colecting tubes 

 must do their work near the surface so as to secure f®od of the proper 

 temperature, hence their course is nearly parallel with the surface of the 

 ground instead of downward as is generally supposed. Continued cold 

 weather will cause tkem to grow toward the surface while excessive heat 

 will send them deeper into the earth. These fibrous roots are the sole 



