. Field crops for the cotton-belt. Agriculture. WHEAT 307 short distance from the plant and then descend almost vertically, many of them having been known to grow to a depth of four or five feet. 376. Culms. — The culms of wheat vary in height from three to five feet. They are usually hollow with solid joints, but in a few varieties they are partially or entirely filled with pith. During the early growth of the culm, the joints are very close together but as it elongates the spaces between the joints increase rapidly until the plant has reached its full height. The length of the culms vary wit
. Field crops for the cotton-belt. Agriculture. WHEAT 307 short distance from the plant and then descend almost vertically, many of them having been known to grow to a depth of four or five feet. 376. Culms. — The culms of wheat vary in height from three to five feet. They are usually hollow with solid joints, but in a few varieties they are partially or entirely filled with pith. During the early growth of the culm, the joints are very close together but as it elongates the spaces between the joints increase rapidly until the plant has reached its full height. The length of the culms vary with type, variety, soil, fertility, and seasonal conditions. The tendency to lodge is governed primarily by the length of the stems and secondarily by their stiffness or strength. There is not necessarily any direct relation between the yield of grain yand-the length of culms. The latter char- acter, however, influences the ease of har- vesting. 377. TiUering (Fig. 48). — Wheat, hke other cereals, throws out branched after the . plumule has appeared above ground. Within the axil of each leaf on the culm as well as at each imderground node a bud is formed. Ordinarily only the buds that are covered with soil develop into branches, the others remaining dormant. As each branch may produce a limited number of branches, and as these branches may in turn, produce still other branches, each grain may under favorable conditions, produce a rela- tively large number of culms. In exceptional cases one grain of wheat has been known to produce as many as fifty spikes. By this characteristic of tillering, wheat and other. Fig. 48. Diagrammat- ic section through the stem of wheat about 25 days after planting (enlarged). The first bud designed to form a tiller is just start- Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original w
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectagriculture, bookyear
