GETTING ESTABLISHED 



81 



Place on the surface of quite moist soil seeds of 

 Mustard, Morning-glory, Wheat, Squash, Sunflower, 

 Onion, Lima Bean and Horse-bean. Notice how the 

 roots of the lighter seeds, in trying to penetrate the 

 soil, raise the seeds up and even turn them over, and 

 how the root -hairs and rootlets anchor these light 



68. Squash seedlings endeavoring to penetrate the soil. 



seeds to the soil so that the roots finally penetrate it 

 (Pig. 67). This is more noticeable when the soil is 

 hard or firmly packed down. Fig. 68 shows the 

 various somersaults performed by Squash seeds which 

 were all originally placed flat on the surface of the soil. 

 How much force can the root exert in boring its 

 way into the soil ? The contrivance shown in Fig. 

 69 may be used to answer this question. It consists 



