348 



STATE BOARD OP AGRICULTURE. 



Germinator. — 



Figures 11, 12 and 13 show the germinator used by the Fa'rm Depart- 

 ment at the college. It is made of galvanized iron and is II14 inches 

 by I7I/2 in'ches, inside measure, and is one inch deep. Notches are cut 

 li/4 inches apart in the edges of sides and ends. The germinator is 

 tilled with sand or sandy soil, and struck off with a straight edge, and 

 then tapped slightly to settle the soil. Strings are then stretched as 

 shown, marking li/l iuch squares. This makes nine rows having four- 

 teen squares each and a total of one hundred and twenty-six. 



Fig. 10. — Shows the manner of tying the ears together with binder twine. 



Home-made Germinator. — 



Any boy can make a germinator of a drygoods box that will work per- 

 fectly. See fig. 14. Drive tacks or very small nails into the upper part 

 of the sides and ends (below the edges), I14 or possibly 1% inches apart 

 to attach the strings. 

 Arranging Ears for Test. — 



Arrange systematically the ears of corn in rows, on racks or floor, to 

 correspond with the rows of squares in the germinator. By so doing 

 each ear will have its corresponding square, and bear a similar number 



Placing Seed in Germinator. — 



From ear one in the first row, remove four kernels from as many 

 different points on the ear and set these kernels small end down and 

 germs in, in the first square. Press each kernel down until its top is 

 even Mith. or better, just below the surface of the sand, as shown in 

 fig. 11. In like manner, remove kernels from each ear and place them 



