100 



SOILS AND PLANT LIFE 



which are harvested or gathered by hand, as the cotton 

 and corn, are held up at a convenient height to pick. 



76. Study of the Forms of Stems. — Nothing will 

 fix in our minds the habits and uses of stems so well as a 



field study and a col- 

 lection of them. 



Gather at least three 

 specimens of plants 

 with prostrate stems, 

 three with climbing 

 stems and three with 

 erect stems. Record 

 in your notebook where 

 each was gathered, that 

 is, whether in pasture, 

 cultivated field, or- 

 chard, or elsewhere ; 

 also, tell what chance 

 it had to get plent_v of 

 light, and what is the 

 use of the plant to man. 



EXERCISE 33 



Cornstalks with 

 burden. 



Object. — To become 

 familiar v,-\ih the char- 

 acter of stems. 



Procedure. — Place 

 the stem of a mature com plant, a mature, dry morning 

 glory vine and some prostrate plant, as the purslane or 

 the prostrate pigweed, on the table before you. Notice 

 the joints, or nodes, on the cornstalk ; also that there are 

 joints on the other stems, though they are different in 

 appearance from those of the corn plant. 



