CHAPTER XI 



PROPAGATION OF PLANTS 



Seeds, Layers, Cuttings, Grafting, and Budding; 



Transplanting 



The Seeds. — First have each member of the class make 

 a neat collection of the seeds of all the fruits — crab 

 apple, apple, pear, peach, plum, strawberry, etc. — given 

 in the preceding list, or of as many as possible. A lesson 

 or two may be devoted to mounting these neatly in vials 

 or on cards. Label them in such wise that they may be 

 used for tests to see whether the children can distinguish 

 the different seeds at sight. 



We may next ask each of the children to bring in a 

 number of fruit seeds for observations and experiments in 

 germination. Certain seeds are naturally better adapted 

 to these studies than others. Still, any which have local 

 importance may be used ; and so few children have ever 

 seen the germination of some of the smaller seeds — straw- 

 berry, raspberry, grape, etc. — that these may prove the 

 most instructive of all, especially in sections where their 

 culture is a prominent industry. If time allows the use of 

 not more than one seed for these studies, the peach will 

 probably be the best in all sections where its culture is 

 possible ; but with just this seed the greatest care must 

 be taken to be sure that it is from vigorous stock and not 



155 



