GLOSSARY 



To enable young readers to understand the technical words necessarily 

 used in the text only popular definitions are given. 



Abdomen : the part of an insect lying behind the thorax. 



Acid : a chemical name given to many sour substances. Vinegar 



and lemon juice owe their sour taste to the acid in them. 

 Adult: a person, animal, or plant grown to full size and strength. 

 Ammonia (ammonium)', a compound of nitrogen readily usable as 



a plant food. It is one of the products of decay. 

 Annual : a plant that bears seed during the first year of its existence 



and then dies. 



Anther : the part of a stamen that bears the pollen. 

 Atmospheric nitrogen : nitrogen in the air. Great quantities of this 



valuable plant food are in the air ; but, strange to say, most 



plants cannot use it directly from the air, but must take it in 



other forms, as nitrates, etc. The legumes are an exception, as 



they can use atmospheric nitrogen. 



Available plant food : food in such condition that plants can use it. 

 Bacteria: a name applied to a number of kinds of very small living 



beings, some beneficial, some harmful, some disease-producing. 



They average about one twenty-thousandth of an inch in length. 

 Balanced ration : a ration made up of the proper amounts of carbo- 

 hydrates, fats, and protein, as explained in text. Such a ration 



avoids all waste of food. 

 Biennial: a plant that produces seed during the second year of its 



existence and then dies. 

 Blight : a diseased condition in plants in which the whole or a part 



of a plant withers or dries up. 



Bluestone : a chemical; copper sulphate. It is used to kill fungi, etc. 



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