32 METHOD OF CULTIVATION. 
so long as the mass of foliage kept on increasing, now be- 
came constituent portions of the root.”* 
The growth of sorghum is precisely similar. The ap- 
parently half-dormant period after the young leaves have 
attained their development is that during which ‘the mi- 
gration of the constituents of the leaves and transforma- 
tion into the constituents of the root’ is taking place. 
That such a transfer really occurs at this period is evinced 
by the great bulk of root surface as compared with the 
foliage, the former increasing most rapidly and extending 
itself farthest during that stage when the leaves are “at a 
stand.” At its close the tuft of young leaves has a height 
of only 5 or 6 inches, while the roots are extended widely 
with a length of 2 or 3 feet. This stationary period, as 
respects the early leaf growth of sorghum, comes to a 
close in about 60 days from the time of germination. 
A second stage of growth immediately follows this, 
which is characterized by the most remarkable activity in 
that part of the plant which previously seemed almost dor- 
mant, and is produced by a correspondent change in the 
direction and intensity of vital action. There is now com- 
menced a sudden and rapid transportation of the nutri- 
tive matter from the root to the stem, which begins to 
shoot up, and all the vital functions at the same time are 
wonderfully quickened. The measure of this activity, 
however, depends upon the character of theseason. ‘This 
stage is completed when the stalk of the cane has attained 
to nearly its full size. Three well-defined periods of de- 
velopment successively follow, embracing severally the flow- 
ering season, that in which the seed is formed, and that of 
ripening. 
* Tdem. 
