time than we can take for it in one day, it will be well to cover the
exposed roots with some old burlaps or other material until we have
them all ready, in order to keep them from drying and from injury.

When all is ready we will study the root system of each plant and
answer these four questions:

In what part of the soil are most of the roots?

How deep do they penetrate the soil?

How near do they come to the surface of the soil?

How far do they reach out sidewise or laterally from the plant?

To the first question, "In what part of the soil are most of the
roots?" you will give the following answers: "In the upper layer." "In
the surface soil." "In the softer soil." "In the darker soil." "In the
plowed soil."

These are all correct, but the last is the important one. Most of the
roots will be formed in that part of the soil that has been plowed or
spaded.

The second question, "How deep do the roots penetrate the soil?" is
easily answered. Roots will be found penetrating the soil to depths of
from two to six feet or more. (See Fig. 8.) The author has traced the
roots of cowpea and soy bean plants to depths of five and six feet,
corn roots four and five feet, parsnips over six feet. The
sweet-potato roots illustrated in Fig. 8 penetrated the soil to a