550 GLOSSARY 



Beam. That part of the plow to the front end of which the team 



is attached. 

 Beards. Long, stiff bristles projecting from the hull of certain 



seeds. 

 Bedding. The act of so plowing land as to form considerable 



ridges, or elevated beds. 

 Benders. A commercial term for cotton fiber intermediate in 



length between short-staple and long-staple lint ; so called 



because it is largely grown on the bottom land in the bends 



made by rivers. 



Bin. A tight storage place for threshed grain. 

 Binder, or self-binder. A machine for cutting and tying grain 



plants into bundles. 

 Blade. See leaf-blade. 

 Blissus leucopterus. The scientific name of the chinch bug of 



the fields. 



Bluestone. See copper sulfate. 



Boll. The pod within which cotton seed and lint develop. 

 Brace-roots. Roots of the corn plant originating at a node above 



ground. See p. 82. 

 Bracts. In the cotton plant the three leaf-like parts that closely 



inclose the bud, bloom, or boll. 

 Branching wheat. See p. 40. 



Bristles. Minute hairs, as at the base of a spikelet of oats. 

 Broadcast. Scattered, not sown in drills. 

 Budworm. See p. 206. 



Bur (of cotton). The hull of the open boll. 

 Butt. The end of the corn ear near the point of attachment. 



Calcium sulfate. A chemical combination of lime and sulfuric 



acid. Gypsum or land plaster is nearly pure calcium 



sulfate. 

 Calcodermis ceneus. The scientific name of the cowpea-pod 



weevil. 

 Callandra oryza. The scientific name of the weevil that is most 



destructive to corn. 

 Canthook. A short pole with a hook attached used in handling 



logs. 

 Capillary attraction. The force that causes moisture in the soil 



to move toward the surface or toward the dryer part of the 



soil. 

 Capped. Covered, as with an extra bundle of grain placed on 



top of a shock of sheaf-grain. 



Carbon dioxid. Carbonic acid gas ; a gas existing in the at- 

 mosphere and used by plants. It consists of one part 



carbon and two parts oxygen. 



