30 NATURE TEACHING 



of fine roots more or less equal in size. A comparison 

 of the root systems of young beans or peas and barley 

 and wheat will make this difference clear. Make sketches 

 of all the seedlings examined. 



Root-Hairs. 



Take a small wooden box, place at the bottom two 

 or three layers of wet blotting-paper, and then some 

 barley grains which have been soaked in water for about 

 twelve hours. Cover the box with a sheet of glass, and 

 put it on one side ; examine the box from time to time, 

 and add more water if the blotting-paper should become 

 at all dry. At the end of two to four days, according to 

 the season of the year, root-hairs should be present in 

 abundance, and there should be no difficulty in making 

 out the characters which have been previously described. 

 Make sketches of two or three seedlings of different ages, 

 showing exactly the position of the root-hairs in each 

 case. 



Pull up, very carefully, seedlings which have been 

 grown in sandy soil ; grains of sand are generally found 

 adhering in great numbers to the region on which we 

 now know the root-hairs occur. Wash off this sand very 

 carefully by gently moving the roots about in a tumbler 

 full of water. Whilst the roots are suspended in the 

 water, examine them also for root-hairs. Draw a seed- 

 ling before and after washing the sand off. 



Root-Caps. 



Examine, if an opportunity occurs, the aerial roots of 

 the screw-pine, and observe their root-caps. Then look for 



