78 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 



cloak dishonesty they mix some new seeds with the old, 

 or bleach old and yellow seeds in order to make them 

 resemble fresh, new seed. 



It is important, therefore, that all seeds bought of dealers 

 should be thoroughly examined and tested ; for if seeds do 

 not grow, we not only pay for that which is useless, but we 

 are also in great danger of producing so few plants in our 

 field that we shall not get full use of the land, and may 

 thus suffer a more serious loss than merely paying for a 

 few dead seeds. 



To test the vitality of seeds, plant one hundred seeds 

 in a pot of earth or in damp sand, or place between moist 

 pieces of flannel, and take care to keep them moist and 

 warm. Count those that germinate and thus determine 

 the percentage of vitality. Germinating between flannel is 

 much quicker than planting in earth. Care should be used 

 to keep mice away from germinating seeds. (See Fig. 61.) 



A B 



FIG. 61. A SEED GERMINATOR 

 Consisting of two soup plates, some sand, and a piece of cloth 



Sometimes the appearance of a package will indicate 

 whether the seed has been kept in stock a long time. 

 It is, however, much more difficult to find out whether the 

 seeds are pure. You can of course easily distinguish seeds 

 that differ much from the seeds you wish to plant, but often 



