344 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[September, 
detailed in the American Agriculturist. For corn, 
potash and phosphoric acid together have proved 
most profitable; but for potatoes and turnips the 
Fig. 1.— FIRST ROOTS OF CORN PLANT. 
addition of nitrogen has seemed requisite for the 
best results. I had quite a talk with Prof. Jordan 
about corn-growing with commercial fertilizers. 
He is persuaded that corn may be raised with profit 
in our older States by the use of fertilizers supply¬ 
ing phosphoric acid and potash. But in cooler re¬ 
gions, like Eastern Maine, he doubts whether far¬ 
mers generally can afford to sacrifice grass, which 
generally does well, for corn, which sometimes 
fails to mature. He is persuaded, however, that 
where the climate favors corn, it may be grown with 
the cheap “ mineral” fertilizers, as stated above, 
and thus enabled to gather its nitrogen from soil 
and air; that if corn and stalks are fed out on 
the farm, this must prove a very economical 
way to make manure, and that it is much bet¬ 
ter to have the corn get the nitrogen for itself, 
than to buy it at from 30 to 30 cents, or more, per 
pound in commercial fertilizers, as so many thou¬ 
sands of farmers are doing. 1 am sorry that lack 
of space forbids my mentioning in detail the ex¬ 
periments and experience of a number of other 
gentlemen whom it has been my good fortune to 
visit. Mr. W. D. Bartholomew, of Putnam, Conn., 
whose name is already familiar to the readers of 
the American Agriculturist , is continuing his field 
work this season. With corn, he, too, finds the only 
artificial fertilizers that do much good are those 
that supply phosphoric acid, bone and superphos¬ 
phate ; but with potatoes, potash salt and nitro¬ 
genous materials, guano, sulphate of ammonia, 
nitrate of soda, etc., are profitable ; and with corn, 
by far the best results come with farm manure and 
superphosphate together. Indeed one thing I 
notice in the talk of all the experimenters is that 
along with the more rational use of artificial fertil¬ 
izers, they are likewise studying, and very earnest¬ 
ly too, how best to increase the production and 
■'mprove the quality of their farm manures. 
Letters from Experimenters. 
Mr. H. M. Swift of Chestnut Ridge, N. Y., in 
speaking of his repetition this season of his last 
year’s experiments says, “ A great desideratum in 
Fig. 2.— YOUNG CORN PLANT WELL ROOTED. 
my vicinity is a crop to follow corn. Spring 
wheat never did well with us, barley is very uncer¬ 
tain, and oats, formerly the best of all our farm 
crops, have for some years been a failure. The 
straw is long enough but always more or less rusted 
and the grain light.” He queries how far the rust is 
due to climatic or other conditions beyond our 
control, and how far to defects in the soil which 
fertilizing and tillage may overcome, and is at¬ 
tempting to get some light upon the problem by 
experiments. 1 hope he will favor us with his re¬ 
sults. One difficulty, in fact one of the greatest diffi¬ 
culties with field experiments, is in the disturbing 
causes which affect the yield on the several plots 
where the comparative trials are made. Besides 
original variations in the depth, texture, water 
supply, and composition of the soil, there are, as 
Mr. Swift suggests “very unexpected differences 
within limited spaces due, in lands long cultivated, 
to the droppings of pastured stock, to the fodder¬ 
ing on the ground of a stack of hay, to the deposit 
of a load of manure or perhaps to the use of some 
fertilizer which, producing no immediate results, 
in time, with change of culture and appropriate 
crops, show its effects long after the cause is for¬ 
gotten.” Mr. Swift adds further on in his letter, 
and, as it seems to me very pertinently, “ I think 
I have generally aimed at this residuary fertility, 
if I may so call it, rather than the first effects.” 
Mr. J. W. Pierce, of West Millbury, Mass., who 
is also repeating his last year’s experiments, writes: 
“The nitrogen and potash look much better than 
last year’s, probably because I applied them broad¬ 
cast. Last year I put part of them in the hill, and 
they injured the germination of the seed.” I 
quote this observation of Mr. Pierce, because it 
touches a very important matter. A vast deal of 
harm is done in the use of concentrated fertilizers 
by putting them too near the seed. The seed, the 
just germinated plant, and the roots suffer, and the 
growth of the plant is checked in consequence. 
Farmers often think they must put the fertilizer 
close to the plant, or it will not get the benefit of 
them. They do not realize how widely the roots 
extend, and what a capacity they have for gathering 
up the nourishing materials that are diffused 
through the soil, and how much better it is to sup¬ 
ply these materials so that the roots may thus 
gather them from the soil all about them in the 
natural way. This suggests a very important subject: 
Tile Soots of Plants. 
The roots of a plant give it mechanical support 
during its growth, and gather for it food, with 
water, from the soil. When this work is done 
and the crop is gathered, the roots remain to con¬ 
tribute their own substance to supply food for 
the succeeding crop, to hasten, through their de¬ 
composition, the processes by which the plant food 
of the soil is made available, and finally to im¬ 
prove the texture of the soil. Roots are more 
important agents in the growth of our crops than 
most people think. Every farmer and gardener 
ought to understand, and would work to much 
better advantage if he did properly understand, 
how roots grow and do their work, and hence how 
the plants should be cared for so as to best promote 
the development of the roots, and in consequence 
the growth of the whole plant; its fruit, grain, etc. 
The Roots of Indian Corn. 
A German investigator, Dr. Thiel, has made some 
very interesting studies of the roots of plants, and 
has published several series of photographs of 
whole plants, tops, and roots, just as they grow in 
the field. From a series of these which illustrate the 
development of Indian corn, or Maize, as it is gen¬ 
erally called in Europe, our engravings are taken. 
To get these photographs, the youngest plants, with 
the roots freed from earth, were put in water, as 
nearly as possible in the natural position, and pho¬ 
tographed. For the others, trenches were dug in 
the sandy soil in which the plants were growing, 
and the roots laid bare. The engravings are there¬ 
fore from nature, and show just how the roots are 
developed as the plant grows ; how they extend 
through the soil and distribute themselves in 
the upper and lower layers. Figure 1 is the very 
young plant; figure 2 is a little further 
developed. Figures 3 and 4 are older 
states of the plant. Figure 3 being a 
view from the side, showing the exten¬ 
sion of roots in breadth and depth, and 
in figure 4 we see the corn plant in the 
same position some weeks later in its 
growth. I regret that Dr. Thiel has 
given us no view of the matured plant 
among his photographs. I mistrust the 
reason is to be found in the fact, that 
in the climate of North Germany, corn 
does not generally mature very well. 
The roots of com extend a great dis¬ 
tance laterally and penetrate to quite a 
depth in the soil, t hough not so deeply 
as do many other plants, such as clover, 
lucern, or even beets. But at the same 
time, as the engravings show, the larger 
share of the roots arc near the surface 
and here most of the feeding is done. 
The roots that reach deepest into the 
soil serve to bring up a supply of water 
when the upper strata are dried as in 
times of drouth. I should like to add a 
Request to Our Experimenters. 
We hear various and widely con¬ 
flicting statements as to the distance 
and depth to which roots go into the 
soil. Can not some of the gentlemen 
who are about to harvest the experimental crops 
trace the course and extent of the roots, and give 
us their results in figures and such description as 
convenient? How far do the roots of corn, pota¬ 
toes, and other crops, reach; how deep do they 
Fig. 4.— -ROOTS OF HALF-GROWN PLANT. 
penetrate, and how far down is the feeding by the 
roots mainly done? W. O. Atwater, 
Wesleyan University , Middletown , Conn. 
Fig. 3.— THE ROOTS OF CORN PLANT AT A LATER STAGE. 
