Sugar Beet Roots

In every case, under conditions prevailing in the experiments, and which did not have in mind the forcing of the roots down to extraordinary depths, it seemed that the normal depth of the roots of ordinary field crops was from three to eight feet.  Sub-soiling and deep plowing enable the roots to go deeper into the soil.  This work has been confirmed in ordinary experience until there can be little question about the accuracy of the results.

Almost all of these results were obtained in humid climates on humid soils, somewhat shallow, and underlain by a more or less infertile subsoil.  In fact, they were obtained under conditions really unfavorable to plant growth.  It has been explained in Chapter V that soils formed under arid or semiarid conditions are uniformly deep and porous and that the fertility of the subsoil is, in most cases, practically as great as of the topsoil.  There is, therefore, in arid soils, an excellent opportunity for a comparatively easy penetration of the roots to great depths and, because of the available fertility, a chance throughout the whole of the subsoil for ample root development.  Moreover, the porous condition of the soil permits the entrance of air, which helps to purify the soil atmosphere and thereby to make the conditions more favorable for root development.  Consequently it is to be expected that, in arid regions, roots will ordinarily go to a much greater depth than in humid regions.

It is further to be remembered that roots are in constant search of food and water and are likely to develop in the directions where there is the greatest abundance of these materials.  Under systems of dry-farming the soil water is stored more or less uniformly to considerable depths—­ten feet or more—­and in most cases the percentage of moisture in the spring and summer is as large or larger some feet below the surface than in the upper two feet.  The tendency of the root is, then, to move downward to depths where there is a larger supply of water.  Especially is this tendency increased by the available soil fertility found throughout the whole depth of the soil mass.

It has been argued that in many of the irrigated sections the roots do not penetrate the soil to great depths.  This is true, because by the present wasteful methods of irrigation the plant receives so much water at such untimely seasons that the roots acquire the habit of feeding very near the surface where the water is so lavishly applied.  This means not only that the plant suffers more greatly in times of drouth, but that, since the feeding ground of the roots is smaller, the crop is likely to be small.