BREAD PLANTS 1 7 



that has bent over lifts the stem toward the erect 

 position. All the leaf bases help, and the plant 

 soon stands vertical again. These bases remain 

 soft even when the leaf is getting yellow. The 

 effort to lift fallen grain is not so successful, after 

 the stalks are ripe. 



One of the peculiar habits of the wheat plant is 

 " tillering. " The stem that first comes up from 

 each grain of seed that sprouts is quickly joined 

 by shoots that rise from joints underground. 



Three main roots strike downward from the 

 chit as the plumule, or stem, shoots upward toward 

 the light. But the "crown" of the wheat 

 plant is higher than the seed, which is not lifted up 

 in sprouting, as beans are. A group of much 

 stronger roots strike down from the first joints of 

 the parent stem, and the "tillers," or secondary 

 stems, rise around their parent, forming a "stool. " 

 The thinner the sowing, the better chance for these 

 side shoots to multiply; and the deeper the grain 

 is planted, the more joints of the original stem 

 will be covered with soil and able to "stool," 

 sending roots down and stems up. 



The best wheat plant is the one with the greatest 

 number of strong stalks. In the average field 

 the number of stalks from a single seed is from six 

 to twelve. Exceptional plants hare three to four 



