514 ^^E^v jeksky agricultural college 



farmers to prepare the 'hills" for the melons, squashes and other mem- 

 bers of the gourd family, and then, with the thumb and finger, thrust 

 the seeds endwise or edgewise into the soil. Should the seed be placed 

 with the root end uppermost, and close to the surface of the soil, there 

 is very little hope of a plant therefrom ever getting a good start. 

 When the reverse is true, and the root end points directly downward, 

 the plantlet experiences great difiiculty in developing a peg that will 

 remove the seed-coats. It has also been shown that seeds placed edge- 

 wise are not in a favorable position for the peg to act. It needs to 

 ]ye very wide, and then only the ends have an opportunity to hold 

 back the vertical edges of the two halves of the seed-coat. The con- 

 clusion is evident that the best conditions are secured when the seed 

 is placed upon one of its broad faces. This position is the one such 

 seeds would take when left to fall naturally upon a level surface. 

 Therefore, the 'hills" could l)e prepared as in the ordinary way, the 

 seeds sown upon the leveled surface and afterwards covered with the 

 required depth of soil. These conclusions are alntndantly sustained 

 by actual tests in the garden."' 



The seed-coats of some of the cucui'bitaceous plants are provided 

 with starch in the outer coat. All those of the "Hubbard"' squash 

 type, for example, are thus starch-bearing. The only place in the 

 whole seed where this reserve food substance is stored is in the outer 

 layers of cells of the two broad surfaces of the large white seed. When 

 such seeds are placed in a solution of iodine the seeds take on a dark- 

 blue color, because of this starch. In Plate XL (upper third) is 

 shown a number of kinds of squash seeds in pairs. The seed upon 

 the left in each pair had been placed in iodine Ijefore the picture 

 was taken, and the darker seeds are the ones that were colored blue 

 from the presence of starch. All except the last four show starch in 

 the outer coat. This placing of food substance upon the outside of a 

 seed, and apparently out of reach of the embryo within, seems like a 

 lunch provided for a person in a place in an overcoat that is not 

 within reach. Some experiments have l>?en made upon these starch- 

 bearing seeds, the results of which are given l>elow, but the end of 

 the work has not been reached. 



