PROCESS OF GERMINATION. 85 



in light, although supplied with heat and moisture, when the 

 actinic rays are cut off. Deprived of the luminous rays, with 

 the actinic in full force, they spring into life with great rapidity. 

 Seeds sown upon the surface of the earth will scarcely germi- 

 nate, as soil cultivators very well know ; and on the other hand, 

 seeds buried deep, so that the actinic rays cannot reach them, 

 will certainly perish. The planting of seeds so as to secure 

 the proper distance below the surface is a most important point 

 in husbandry, as it has much to do with the early starting of 

 the plants and the success of the crops. 



How beautiful and wonderful is the process of germination, 

 when the chemical and vital phenomena are set in motion by 

 the actinic rays ! The starchy particles of the seed become 

 converted into gum and sugar upon which the young plant 

 feeds. The tiny root peeps out from the husk, and with myste- 

 riously directed powers plunges downward into the fertile soil. 

 The slender plumule pushes upward towards the light. The 

 soil cracks and heaves, and the infant vegetable emerges, fresh 

 and moist, into the world of air and sunshine ; with the unfold- 

 ing of the first pair of leaves, and with the first lighting of the 

 sunbeam upon their tender tissues, commences a series of chemi- 

 co-vital phenomena wholly different from that of the preceding 

 stage of existence. The plant is now fairly dependent for food 

 upon its own energies, and root and leaf are the theatres of 

 great activities. 



None of the elements named as constituting the food of plants 

 exist as such in them, save oxygen and nitrogen. Half the 

 weight of a dried plant is carbon, and yet it does not exist in it 

 as free carbon ; it is all locked up in combinations of greater or 

 less complexity. There is not one of these elements of food 

 that can be supplied to the plant in its naked condition, as they 

 not only have no power to nourish but are positively poisonous. 

 There is much misapprehension regarding these points among 

 farmers, which arises from not clearly understanding the state- 

 ments of writers upon the chemistry of agriculture. Not un- 

 frequently inquiries are received concerning the cost of nitro- 

 gen, carbon, phosphorus, etc., and sometimes orders are sent 

 for these agents, which are designed to be used for fertiliz- 

 ing purposes. . While it is true that nitrogen is an element 

 needful in the nutrition af plants, it must be presented not 



