in the mitosis of onion root experiment, why does the onion root have to be crushed into smaller pieces

Asample of digestive juice was removed from the stomach of a pig. the juice was placed in a test tube along with some grains of wheat. a second test tube was set up containing an equal number of wheat grains, with distilled water rather than digestive juice. the test tubes were kept for 8 hours at 40 degrees c. after 8 hours, the grains inside the digestive juice had broken into tiny particles. the grains of wheat, in the water, were wet but otherwise unchanged. what is the control group?