The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1886-12-16
GLOVER AND

Strong Suspicious That the Roots of the
Former Take Advantagp of the Latter.
During the past yesr the writer has
been making some observations upon
the roots of the red clover and the COM
non timothy. These two plants are the
types of their respective groups. The
clover ~(TrItoliam pratense) 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 pratense), On the
other hand. is the, standard meadow
grass, and is q member of the great
grass family which includes the cereals
among its best members. The farmer
could not get along for q single season
without these WI 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 h 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 there is a vide DIFF
ference found. Passing by the process
of termination, which has its charac-
teristic method in the seeds of each
plant, the roots themselves widely DIFF
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 plotting paper. A flask
| was so arranged that it furnished a con-
slant supply Of water.
The timothy roots are small-that is,
long and slender. The cap 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 a cap.
consisting Of cells or little sacs packed
together, making a covering. The root
grows in length at a point. or in a layer
just under this cap. The cap is worn
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 pear in mind
that the roots under investigation were
grown free from soil, and doubtless the
/ a., zo F~1- 49,, kl@,1
that are produced in the soil. The
root-hairs begin to develop from
the surface of the root in large num-
bers, only a short distance back
of the tip. These hairs are of q different
shape from those of the t notify, be ng
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 these
hairs, was the fact that they quickly
twisted around any substance that would
furnish any nourishment for the young
plant. They often twisted upon each
other, and formed complex knots. The
eXfoliated cells and accompanying slime
from the tip of the root-caps, were Gag.
erly sought by these hairs whenever
they came with n their reach. TIL,
crooked hairs seemed to vie with each
other seeking Out anything they coult
absorb. The timothy hairs exhibited ne
such determination. They were well
behaved, while the c%lover-root hairs
showed themselves as willing to taxi
any means to get on in the world
These hairs in one a S 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.-Prof B. D
Ralsled, in Country Gentleman.