12 



Development and Activities of Roots of Crop Plants. 



height of about 3 feet. The mature root system bore a strong resemblance 

 in form to that found at the last examination. It was characterized by the 

 large number of deeply penetrating roots. Some of these ran almost verti- 

 cally downward from the base of the plant, while others went out obliquely 

 to a distance as great as 12 inches and then turned downward with a gradual 



Fig. 2. 



-A. University No. 21 oats at maturity. 

 B. Swedish Select oats at maturity. 



curve. Other roots took positions intermediate to these extremes (fig. 2 b). 

 The number of these deeper roots varied from 7 to 11. They pursued a 

 rather tortuous course. The usual depth of penetration ranged from 2 to 



