The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1916-03-09

the maTShY uUEGS ana MY pauS the
bullfrogs began their sonorous chorus:
"Decp-very deep. very deep-deep!"
Not very. Not very! Not veryr'
jug er-rum, Jug-er-rum! Jug
er-rum"
"Deep-so deep-deep"'
Myriads of great cleaning frefiies
danced in the denser shades. In the
east, rs the wagon rolled beyond the
confines of the forest, the immense,
ruddy full moon hung Just above the
horizon of field and meadow.
"Oh, isn't it beautiful exclaimed
Annie and her mother in one breath.
With the cool air of night came
scents of woods and fields, the odors of
wild flowers, of growing things, The
air here became heavy with the per
fume of yellow jasmine; farther on,
the scent of magnolia blossoms. Sud
denly from high above them flood Of
ripping melody seemed to make the
moonbeams yibratc.
The hooking birdw cried Joe. IT'S
the sweetest music in the world, for it
is the best of the songs of all the other
birds. improved by the hooking bird
himself"
The joyous rascal seemed to hover
above them in the enchanted silvery
radiance, for as the wagon rolled in the
gate at home the liquid notes Of the
sweetest songster of the south followed |
family, as if in echo to the memory of
a perfect day.
Joe's four acre farm" was now one
of the show places Of the neighborhood.
The county road ran by it, and al
most any time Of day could be seen a
! wagon, man on horseback or some one
afoot under the shade Of the big oak on
the other side which extended its
branches almost across the highway.
well did you ever see such corn|
why. that corn's so green till it's al
most back-and stalk as big as my
wrist now
But, man alive, look at that cotton"
Jaw, shucks, don't tell me that boy
Of Tom Westons growed all that stuff
hisself. I believe some of them govern
mint fellers is a-doin it."
what you reckon he's done to that
ground in the little field? Looks diff
runt from that outside"
rs dtf'runt, i granny; that outside
won't hardly grow ragweeds. Just look
how poor it is"
Hey, sonny" the man who said the
government was doing the work called
to Joe, what you fertilizin withY"
"Rrains." called Joe as he resumed.
The corn was now higher than Joe's
head. and as he worked in it, effectual-
ly concealed from view, he heard many
amusing conversations regarding him
self and the crop
He noticed that the corn was throw
ing out a circle Of short blunt points,
or stems, each about as large around
as a slate pencil, from the two joints
just above the surface of the ground
Joe did not understand what they were.
He looked through his book about
agriculture, his government reports,
the state bulletins. Nowhere did he
find a word about corn throwing out a
radiating circle of blunt spikes from
the lower joints. He was afraid to let
the subject drop for fear the corn was
not doing properly. He never remem-
bered seeing anything of the sort be-
fore, but then he reflected that he had
never noticed corn very closely before.
He walked down the path leading to
a distant field where his father was
working to ask him If he knew any
thing about it. There were few corn
stalks standing in the edge of last
! years corn6eld. He parted the rank
tangle of weeds about them In the hope
of finding something there that would
enlighten him.
The old cOrnstalks had the same
things on them, only much longer, a
double ring of them, but each spike
had curved downward and entered the
soil. Carefully Joe dug some Of the
dirt away with his knife blade-and he
had the secret.
Those rings of spikes were additional
main roots, which when they made
connection with the ground sent out
network of smaller feeders to gather
what the plant needed. At the end Of
each of those spikes was a fibrous
mass of smaller roots, each spike being
the main artery, or pipe, by which was
conveyed all the sustenance the small
er roots at the end gathered from the
soil in the form of sap to the main
stem of the cornstalk and thence dis
tributed to leaves and other parts of
the plant. Joe sat fiat upon the ground,
his mind busy with problem,
why should the corn be sending out
those additional rOOts?' he asked him
, self
at must be hungry! his mind an
SWered
Yes, that's true. But why is it
9ungry now? Why didn't it do that
way before?'
1T is almost through making stalk"
| .caSon answered. by the time those
extra roots touch the ground the stalks
| viii begin to put on the rudimentary
airs, and nature is preparing for the
'Ttra drain upon the strength Of the
plant Il must have more food to ma
,ure the ears of corn
CHAPTER VII
Intensive Corn Cultivation.
W 9oE knew the time for action
]