16 THE SMALL GRAINS 



In ordinary soil, fairly moist, the time required after 

 seeding for the young plant to emerge above ground 

 averages about 5 to 8 days, but may be as short as three 



days. Among wheats 

 the soft-kerneled vari- 

 eties will come up 

 quicker than the hard. 

 14. The seedling. 

 The life of the plant 

 after germination may 

 be conveniently di- 

 vided into four stages ; 



(1) the seedling stage, 



(2) the jointing stage, 



(3) the heading stage, 

 and (4) the ripening 

 stage. The seedling, 

 as it appears two or 

 three weeks after emer- 

 gence above ground, 

 bears usually four 

 green leaves, in addi- 

 tion to the coleoptile 

 above-mentioned, 

 which quickly withers. 

 The crown, which is 



FIG. 7. Seedling of Kherson oat, show- ' 



ing roots from two different crowns at the place of Separation 

 21 and 3 inches above the seed. (J nat- of stem and root j g 



U.I*ll SlZG.^ 



formed just beneath 



the ground, without regard to the depth of planting. If, 

 therefore, the seed is planted deep, the plumule will push 

 upward, before branching, near to the surface, where the 

 crown will be formed some distance above the seed. 



