GRAIN CROPS 59 



2. Gather samples of the different kinds and varieties of grain 

 from the field when headed out. Can you tell wheat, oats, and barley 

 apart when growing before they have headed out? Can you tell 

 them apart after they are headed out? How? 



3. Write a full tabulated description of wheat plants, oat plants, 

 barley plants, noting roots, stems, leaves, heads, and kernels, and tell 

 how you can tell them apart. 



Compare the roots of grain plants with the roots of clover and 

 timothy plants. 



4. Chew a small sample of wheat and see if you can make gum 

 out of it. Try to make gum from oats, barley, or corn. Can you do it? 

 What is the value of the gluten? 



5. Select a small handful of the best kernels of wheat, oats, and 

 barley that you can find. Compare these with other samples of seed 

 being planted in your neighborhood. 



6. Figure as carefully as possible what it costs on your farm to 

 produce wheat and oats. 



7. Germinate a few plump and a few shriveled kernels of wheat 

 or oats side by side between moist blotters and note results. 



8. Try to obtain facts from several farms and tabulate results 

 as to amount of wheat and oa,ts produced per acre. 



