THE EARTH'S BOUNTY 



The Bureau of Agriculture has made some 

 extensive tests along these lines, using wire 

 cases, sunk into the ground, which have been 

 taken up at different stages of growth, the 

 earth being gradually washed out, and the 

 roots left intact for measurement. 



The following summaries I clipped from dif- 

 ferent Government publications in 1888, 1892, 

 and 1896: 



CORN ROOT SYSTEM. At the Wisconsin 

 Station, samples of corn taken 42 days after 

 planting, when the tops were about 18 inches 

 high, showed that the roots of two hills met 

 and passed each other in the center of rows 

 3^/2 feet apart, and had penetrated the soil to 

 a depth of about 18 inches. The surface roots 

 sloped gently downward toward the center of 

 the row, where they were about 8 inches below 

 the surface. At the time of the last cultiva- 

 tion, when the corn was nearly 3 feet high, the 

 roots were found to occupy the entire soil, 

 down to a depth of about 2 feet, and the sur- 

 face laterals descended in a gentle curve to- 



72 



