50 
Research Bulletin Xo. 3 
soil. As among the notes on each 3-inch section, recorded at the 
time of opening the cylinders, mention was always made of the 
relative abundance of roots, there are three checks on the rela- 
tive root development in each foot section, viz, these notes, the 
photographs, and the weight of dry matter in the roots. In a few 
instances where the presence of a very few fine roots was recorded 
in the notes, the roots were lost in the subsequent operations be- 
fore the photographs were taken. As previous to the filling of the 
cylinders the subsoil had all been passed thru an eighth-inch 
screen, nearly all the old roots had thus been removed. How- 
ever, before photographing them the root fragments from the 
different foot sections were gone over with forceps, handling 
them one by one and rejecting all that did not appear fresh. 
While, for the purpose of securing photographs of the roots, 
it would have been desirable to leave them intact and at- 
tached to the plant, such was not feasible in this experiment, 
which was designed especially to secure accurate data on the 
distribution of the soil moisture in short sections, the determi- 
nation of the quantitative distribution of the roots being a 
secondary consideration. 
Table 9. — Cylinders used in 1910 experiment. 
Cylinder 
No. 
Crop 
Free water at time 
of planting 
Surface Subsoil 2 
foot to 6 ft. 
Date of death of 
last plant 
Date of open- 
ing cylinder 
Per rent 
Per cent 
I 
Mexican beans. . . 
14.9 
12.4 
May 13 
May 13 
II 
Mexican beans. . 
14.9 
12.4 
May 13 
May 13 
III 
Milo 
14.9 
12.4 
May 13* 
May 13 
IV 
Milo 
14.9 
12.4 
June 14 
June 14 
V 
Red Fife wheat 
14.9 
12.4 
June 14 
June 14 
VI 
Red Fife wheat . 
14.9 
12.4 
June 14 
June 14 
VII 
Kubanka wheat. . 
14.9 
12.4 
June 14 
June 14 
VIII 
Kubanka wheat. . 
14.9 
12.4 
June 14 
June 14 
IX 
No crop 
14.9 
12.4 
May 13 
X 
No crop 
14.9 
12.4 
May 13 
XI 
Kubanka wheat . . 
9.9 
0.2 
May 9 
May 13 
XII 
Milo 
9.9 
0.2 
May 13 
May 13 
XIII 
Red Fife wheat . . 
9.9 
0.2 
May 9 
May 13 
XIV 
Red Fife wheat. . 
9.9 
4.2 
June 14 
June 14 
XV 
Kubanka wheat. . 
9.9 
4.2 
June 14 
June 14 
XVI 
Milo 
9.9 
4.2 
June 14 
June 14 
XVII 
Kubanka wheat.. 
9.9 
7.8 
June 14 
June 14 
XVIII 
Milo 
9.9 
8.5 
June 14 
June 21 
XIX 
Red Fife wheat . 
9.9 
7.4 
June 14 
June 21 
XX 
Red Fife wheat . . 
9.9 
11.5 
June 14 
June 21 
XXI 
Milo 
9.9 
12.6 
June 14 
June 21 
XXII 
Kubanka wheat. . 
9.9 
12.2 
June 14 
June 14 
* Plant not quite dead when removed. 
