Figure 12 — Carbon-14 labeled soybean plants approach- Figure 13.— Carbon-14 labeled soybean plants approach- 

 ing blossoming, growing in the biosynthesis chamber. ing maturity, growing in the biosynthesis chamber. 



Figures 11, 12, and 13 show carbon-14 tagged 

 soybean plants growing in the biosynthesis cham- 

 ber and the excellent growth that was obtained. 



Growth of Corn 



Two crops of corn were grown. The first was 

 grow T n about 2 months without radioactivity to 

 determine optimum conditions, and the second 

 crop was grown to maturity with carbon-14. The 

 corn was harvested at two stages of maturity — at 

 50 days when the first tassels appeared and at 93 

 days when the corn was mature. Figure 14 shows 

 corn at the silking stage growing in the chamber. 



The temperature was maintained at 75° F. 

 ±1.5°. Daylength was 16 hours for the first 73 

 days, then it was reduced to 14 hours for the re- 

 mainder of the time. 



Special precautions had to be taken in harvest- 

 ing the radioactive corn. A mass of pollen was 

 produced and scattered throughout the inside of 

 the chamber. Protective clothing was worn to 

 prevent contamination by the pollen. The corn 

 tassels were removed and discarded because of the 

 pollen and its tendency to scatter. Corn yields by 

 fractions of the plant were about as follows : ma- 

 ture corn leaves 150 grams, mature cornstalks 

 150 grams, mature corn on the cob 300 grams, and 

 mature roots 50 grams. Young plants harvested 

 at early tasseling (or 50 days) produced about 

 150 grams total top weight. 



Growth of Wheat 



The growth of the wheat crop was only par- 

 tially successful because of nutrient balance prob- 

 lems. Both Chel 138 and ferric chloride were 



13 



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