THE EARTH'S BOUNTY 



after the corn had been killed by frost. The 

 roots at this time seemed to be still alive and 

 growing. At this stage the roots had pene- 

 trated the ground to a depth of 3Mj feet, and 

 they fully occupied the soil of the entire field. 



The Kansas Station found that the roots 

 of corn are more extensive than those of Kaffir 

 corn and sorghum. Kaffir corn showed a thick 

 growth of surface roots, while the root system 

 of sorghum had a greater resemblance to that 

 of corn. The roots of listed corn had devel- 

 oped to a uniform depth, and the surface roots 

 were uniformly deeper in the soil than in level- 

 planted corn. It was also shown in these ex- 

 periments that the roots of corn and other cul- 

 tivated crops spread out farther, but did not 

 grow so deep into the soil as the roots of wheat, 

 oats, and barley. 



All these experiments indicate that, by cul- 

 tivating deeply, the large, lateral roots of corn 

 lying at a depth of 4 inches midway between 

 the rows are likely to be broken. It is believed 

 that as roots of listed corn lie deeper, corn 



75 



