The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1886-12-25
GLOVER AND TIMOTHY.

strong Suspicious That the Roots of tho
Former Take Advantage of the Latter.
During the past year the writer has
been making some observations upon
the roots of the red clover and the COM
mon timothy. These two plants are the
types of their respective groups. The
clover (TrUoliam prate'ase) is the pre-
ferred forage plant of the great pulse
family, to which the pea, bean, lucern
and thousands of other plants belong.
The timothy (Phleum pratenSej, on the
other hand, is the standard meadow
grass, and is a member of the great
grass family which includes the cereals
among its best members. The farmer
could not get along for a single season
without these two royal orders of plants,
and it may be also true that his success
would not be at its height if he neglect
ed to grow the two representatives here
chosen.
From first to last, the clover is very
different from the timothy. In struc-
ture there is no similarity, until the mi
croscopic elements are considered, and
here, of course, all plants are much
alike. In leaf, stem and flower there
is very little in common. The observa-
tons the present season have been upon
the roots, and here f~ore is a wide dif-
ference found. Pasitng by the process
of termination, wifi III has its charac-
terlstic method in the seeds of each
plant, the roots themselves widely df-
fer. The observations were made upon
young plants produced by scattering
seeds of the grass and clover upon
moist blotting paper, and covering
them with more blotting paper, A flask
was so arranged that it furnished con-
slant supply of water.
The timothy roots are small-that is,
long and slender. Thecap or covering
at the tip is thin, and does not cast off
many cells. A word of explanation is
here needed on root caps in general
Every well-developed root has its tip or
free growing end protected by cap,
consisting of cells or little sacs packed
together, making covering. The root
grows in length at point. or in layer
Just under this cap. The cap is worn
off upon the outside, by contact with the
sharp particles of soil, and this loss is
made good by new cells formed upon
the inner side. The timothy roots do
not produce many root-hairs for a con-
siderable distance from the tip of the
root. The root is therefore smooth,
and might be likened to a common PIN.
On the other hand, the clover root has
a thick, well developed cap, and from
its outer surface many cells are eXfo-
lated. The reader must bear in mind
that the roots under investigation were
grown free from soil, and doubtless the
tips are somewhat different from those
that are produced in the soil. The
root-hairs begin to develop from
the surface of the root in large num-
bers, only short distance back
of the tip. These hairs are Of a different
shape from those u the notify, be nc
often much twisted and frequent y club
shaped while those in the grass are
slender, of the same diameter through
out, and usually straight. The most in
teresting point in connection with thest
hairs, was the fact that they quickly
twisted around any substance that woult
furnish any nourishment for the young
plant. They often twisted upon eacf
other, and formed complex knots. Tit
eXfoliated cells and accompanying slime
from the tip of the root-caps, were Gag
erly sought by these hairs wheneve
they came with their reach. TIT
crooked hairs seemed to vie with eacl
other seeking out anything they coulC
absorb. The timothy hairs exhibited nj
such determination. They were well
behaved, while the clover-root hair
showed themselves as willing to tax
any means to get on in the world
These hairs in one case attacked tn
tip of a timothy leaf, and exhibited al
the indications of obtaining food there
from. They bent out of their regula
course as far as possible to get their tip
in contact with the timothy. The Glove
hairs frequently behaved toward tn
, hairs of the timothy roots as the thread
= of a parasite upon its host.-Pr0t. d. u
, HoISted, in Country Gentleman.