56 



A YEAR IN AGRICULTURE 



smith's " Study of Corn," and Bowman and Crossley, 

 "Corn." 



THE SEVEN SPECIES OF CORN 



POP FLINT ^m DENT ^M SOfiLT | | SWEET ^H POD 

 FIG. 7. SEVEN SPECIES OF CORN 



III. LIFE HISTORY OF THE CORN PLANT 



The life cycle. Every living thing has a life history a 

 beginning, a growing, possibly a reproduction, and a death. 

 So it is Avith the corn plant. We may begin at any place in 

 a cycle, but in case of the corn we shall begin with the seed. 

 The young corn plant is already well started in the seed. It 

 has a stem and leaf-end embedded in a cotyledon containing 

 food for the young plant, as soon as conditions are right 

 for it to continue its growth. These conditions are right 

 when the kernel of corn is planted in the soil. Here 

 the moisture, heat, and air cause the young plant in the 

 cotyledon to begin to grow. This growth consists in putting 

 out roots into the soil, pushing up a roll of leaves into the 



