AGRICULTUEE FOR SOUTHEEF SCHOOLS. 



Special reference : Testing Farm Seeds in the Home and in tlie Rural School, 

 Farmers' Bulletin 428. 



Lesson 2. — The Work of Roots. 



1. Development of roots. 



2. The plant cell. 



3. Root hairs. 



4. Kinds of roots. 



5. Function of roots. 



6. Root systems. 



Illustrative material : Plants showing root hairs ; charts showing struc- 

 ture of roots. 



Exercise 2. — A Study of Boot Hairs and Osmosis. 



Purpose: To show how plants take in mineral food. 



Directions: If the germinated wheat seed is allowed to become 

 slightly dry between the paper pie plates or the folds of the blotting 

 paper the root hairs will develop to an abnormal length so that they 

 may be seen readily with the naked eye. 



The method by which mineral food in solution is taken into the 

 plant through the root hairs may be shown in the following man- 

 ner : Fill a thistle tube partly full of molasses and tie over the large 

 end of the tube a piece of moistened bladder. Insert the tube in the 

 cork of a wide-mouthed bottle and immerse it in water colored with 

 ink. In a few hours the water should pass through the bladder and 

 force the molasses out of the top of the tube. 



Record and report: Drawings should be made of a plantlet, show- 

 ing the root hairs, and of the apparatus illustrating osmosis. Each 

 student should also make a written report of the demonstration in 

 which the following questions are answered: Why do root hairs 

 develop to a greater extent if the roots of the plantlet become slightly 

 dry? What is the nature of the root hairs? Upon what part of the 

 root are they found? How is the principle of osmosis applied to 

 the taking in of plant food by the root hairs ? 



Lesson 3. — The Work of Sterns. 



1. Development of the stem, 



2. Structure of stems. 



3. How stems grow. 



4. Buds. 



5. Movement of sap. 



6. Kinds of stems. 



Illustrative material: Different kinds of stems; charts showing cellular 

 structure of stems. 



Lesson 4. — Leaves. 



1. Forms of leaves. 



2. Arrangement. 



3. Structure. 



4. Photosynthesis. 



Illustrative material: Leaves of different forms; charts showing struc- 

 ture and photosynthesis. 



