AGRICULTURAL BOTANY, CHEMISTRY AXD PHYSIOLOGY OF PLANTS I089 



each of these operations 2 plants were used, one as control. The results 

 of the experiment are contained in the following table : 



(i) The root coefficient is the product of the length of the root by its horizontal extension. 



On analysing the data contained in the table it is seen that the growlh of the 

 root system of lucerne continues uninterruptedly from germination to 

 fructification. Nevertheless, it is not uniform. Up to the the age of 2 ^ 

 months, growth takes place with a certain uniformity ; at the end of the first 

 month the maximum length of the roots was from 17 to 16 cm.; at the end of 

 the second month 44 and 35 cm. and at the age of 2 Y^ months, 51 and 45 

 em.; in the two following weeks, which form the pre-flowering period and 

 actual flowering period itself, the growth of the root system was very in- 

 tense, giving as the result at the end of the third month a length of root from 

 103 to no cm. So great a fluctuation in the growth in length of the root 

 system was not observed either before or after this period. The writer 

 regards this fact as essential in his investigations. 



It is interesting to note that the results of the experiments carried out 

 by the writer agree with those obtained earlier with the same plant, i. e. 

 lucerne, by V. G. Rotmistrov, but better specify the process of growth of 

 the root system of this plant, by establishing the period of the most intense 

 growth in length. This it was not possible to ascertain from the experiments 

 of Rotmistrov, because he only separated the roots by washing 4 times, 

 namely, 14 and 21 days after germination, and at the beginning of flowering 

 and ripening. 



