156 FIELD CROPS FOR THE COTTON-BELT 



These conducting tubes are large and numerous in the 

 corn stem, a characteristic that helps to account for the 

 very rapid growth of corn under favorable conditions. 



196. Tillers. Under certain conditions and in cer- 

 tain varieties there ' is a tendency for corn to develop 

 branches or tillers at the base of the plant, due to the 

 growth of the buds located in the axils of the first leaves. 

 As a rule these latent buds remain dormant but if condi- 

 tions are favorable, as is the case when corn is grown on a 

 rich soil well supplied with moisture, or when the plants 

 are left far apart, they may become active and produce 

 shoots which develop their own root-systems and in a 

 measure function as normal plants. 



While it is true that soil and climatic conditions deter- 

 mine, in a large measure, the tendency of corn to tiller, 

 investigations have demonstrated that tillering is, to an 

 extent, a hereditary tendency and can be influenced by 

 seed selection. 



197. Leaves. The leaves of the corn plant alternate 

 on opposite sides of the stem and are therefore spoken of as 

 being two-ranked. Each leaf is composed of three parts; 

 the sheath, the ligule, and the blade. The sheath is that 

 portion of the leaf that surrounds the stem. It serves to 

 anchor the leaf and also protects the bud or e'mbryonic ear. 

 The ligule is a membranous outgrowth at the point where 

 the blade joins the sheath. It is often spoken of as the 

 rainguard from the fact that it prevents the water and dirt 

 which run down the grooved surface of the blade, from 

 entering between the sheath and the stem. The blade is 

 that part of the leaf that naturally hangs free from the 

 stem. The margins of the blade are wavy, owing to the 

 fact that the edges grow faster than the middle. This 

 folded or wavy condition is a natural contrivance which 



