174 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. XXI, No. 3 
fields where timothy stubble and plants had been plowed under at 
different times of the year. 
From their investigations the writers found that underground rooting 
stems in timothy are of at least two kinds and that each develops in a 
different way. One type of underground stem is that illustrated in 
Plate 39, A. This type develops frequently when timothy stubble or 
plants are plowed under in the summer or early fall. It is the normal 
thing in timothy for the bud that forms the new shoot to develop from 
a node below one of the enlarged intemodes at the base of an old culm. 
This is the way the timothy plant reproduces itself vegetatively. 
During the early growth of the shoot the nodes from which the leaves 
arise are close together. When the shoot grows in length to form a 
culm with a spike, only about six of the upper internodes elongate. The 
total length of the io to 20 unelongated internodes at the base of the 
culm ordinarily does not exceed 0.4 inch. Sometimes, however, it is 
somewhat longer. From the basal nodes, the root system of the new 
plant is produced. 
While the foregoing is what takes place normally, the development of 
the new shoots may be modified appreciably by external conditions. 
When timothy stubble or plants that have passed the seedling stage are 
plowed under, or are similarly covered with soil, buds that make the 
new shoots start development in the normal way, usually only one 
bud on a stem. But the young shoot, instead of rooting where it is 
formed, almost immediately adjacent the mother plant, grows toward 
the light. In doing so the internodes at or near the base of the new 
shoot, sometimes only one, usually two or more, elongate, thus pushing it 
up to the surface in a nearly vertical direction. In many cases small 
fibrous roots develop from the nodes between these elongated basal 
internodes. It is in this way that undergound stems of rootstock-like 
appearance are formed. The length of the stem produced by the elonga¬ 
tion of the basal internodes and the number of intemodes involved depend 
to a very large extent on the depth to which the old culms are covered 
with soil. Some have been found having eight internodes, and some 
with a total length of 5.3 inches. Ordinarily these stems do not extend 
entirely up to the surface of the soil. An occasional shoot has been 
observed with its crown 3 inches below the surface, although the crowns 
are usually much nearer the surface than this. When produced under 
normal conditions, the crown of the young shoot is at the surface of the 
soil. The varying depth at which the crowns of the shoots attached to 
underground stems occur may be influenced by the extent of the leaf 
growth while it is still beneath the surface. The elongation of the basal 
intemodes, together with the growth that takes place in the leaves, 
brings the tips of the leaves to the surface. The shoots with the greatest 
leaf development probably reach the surface with the least elongation of 
the basal intemodes, other conditions being equal. This may explain 
