AGRICULTURE FOR SOUTHERN SCHOOLS. 5 
Special reference : Testing Farm Seeds in the Home and in the Rural School, 
Farmers' Bulletin 428. 
Lesson 2. — The Work of Boots. 
1. Development of roots. 
2. The plant cell. 
3. Root hairs. 
4. Kinds of roots. 
5. Function of roots. 
6. Root systems. 
Illustrative material : Plants showing root hairs ; charts showing struc- 
ture of roots. 
Exercise 2. — A Study of Root Hairs and Osmosis. 
Purpose: To show how plants take in mineral food. 
Directions: If the germinated wheat seed is allowed to become 
slightly dry between the paper pie plates or the folds of the blotting 
paper the root hairs will develop to an abnormal length so that they 
may be seen readily with the naked eye. 
The method by which mineral food in solution is taken into the 
plant through the root hairs may be shown in the following man- 
ner : Fill a thistle tube partly full of molasses and tie over the large 
end of the tube a piece of moistened bladder. Insert the tube in the 
cork of a wide-mouthed bottle and immerse it in water colored with 
ink. In a few hours the water should pass through the bladder and 
force the molasses out of the top of the tube. 
Record and report: Drawings should be made of a plantlet, show- 
ing the root hairs, and of the apparatus illustrating osmosis. Each 
student should also make a written report of the demonstration in 
which the following questions are answered: Why do root hairs 
develop to a greater extent if the roots of the plantlet become slightly 
dry ? What is the nature of the root hairs ? Upon what part of the 
root are they found? How is the principle of osmosis applied to 
the taking in of plant food by the root hairs? 
Lesson 3. — The Work of Sterns. 
1. Development of the stem. 
2. Structure of stems. 
3. How stems grow. 
4. Buds. • 
5. Movement of sap. 
6. Kinds of stems. 
Illustrative material: Different kinds of stems; charts showing cellular 
structure of stems. 
Lesson 4. — Leaves. 
1. Forms of leaves. 
2. Arrangement. 
3. Structure. 
4. Photosynthesis. 
Illustrative material: Leaves of different forms; charts showing struc- 
ture and photosynthesis. 
