22 CORN 



is planted under abnormal conditions on very poor or on 

 very rich soil, it will have a tendency to sucker. Where 

 corn is used exclusively as a forage, suckering is not regarded 

 as objectionable. The tendency to sucker is most charac- 

 teristic of flint corn. 



Corn has two sets of roots : those underneath the surface 

 of the ground, known as feeders ; and those attached to the 

 corn plant above the surface of the ground, known as brace 

 roots. These brace roots aid in keeping the stalk erect and 

 in preventing the plant from being blown over or broken 



Fig. 9. Imperfect fertilization of corn. 



down during severe wind storms. The cornstalk is sup- 

 plied with joints or nodes from which leaves are sent out. 

 The number of leaves on a stalk varies from ten to twenty 

 or more. The entire leaf surface of a single plant may be 

 equal to twenty-four square feet. The leaf surface plays an 

 important part in the life functions of the plant, and through 

 the tiny respiratory openings of the leaf it is enabled to 

 take in carbon dioxide from the air and to give off soil 

 moisture in which the food for the plant has been absorbed. 

 The plant is able partially to control the loss of moisture 

 in dry spells by the closing of the transpiration organs. 



