184 HANDBOOK OF NATURE STUDY 



leaves of the winter wheat and also the roots remain quite 

 small in autumn, but the plants remain green under the 

 winter's snow. In more northern states, as Minnesota and 

 Dakota, wheat is sown in spring, as soon as the ground is 

 in condition to be worked. What is the usual time for your 

 locality ? Barley and oats are always sown in spring. 



Now let us examine the different young seedlings. I have 

 here those of wheat, rye, oats, and barley ; from all of which 

 I have carefully washed away the soil. They all germinated 

 with one thin, grass-like germ-leaf, while a small root pro- 

 ceeded downward from each grain. 



Now let us take plants which are several weeks old. On 

 these we observe that the original stem has branched or 

 tillered profusely near the ground,, so that it looks as if 

 many plants grew from one seed. The one small root 

 which we observed in the very young plants has decayed, 

 but its place is taken by a whole bunch of fibrous roots 

 which spread in all directions, but do not penetrate very 

 deep into the soil. How do these fibrous roots differ from 

 the roots of the burdock, the carrot, and the parsnip ? 



Culm and leaves. The culms are hollow, but nevertheless 

 strong and also sufficiently flexible. If you look at one 

 carefully, you will notice longitudinal whitish ribs, which 

 are also well shown in a cross-section of the culm. These 

 whitish ribs consist of a tough and somewhat woody sub- 

 stance. But the principal source of strength for the long 

 culms are the knots, or nodes, of which several are found in 

 each culm. Cut one of these nodes and you will find that 

 it is very hard and not hollow. Another source of strength 

 are the leaves, which form a sheath for several inches 

 around the stem above each node. Thus constructed, the long, 

 thin culms are able to stand erect. Since many of them grow 



Observations. Observe prairie chickens and quails, but be very care- 

 ful not to disturb their nests. 



