GLOSSARY 341 



Seed selection: the careful selection of seed from particular plants 



with the object of keeping or increasing some desirable quality. 

 Seedling : a young plant just from the seed. 

 Sepal : one of the leaves in the calyx. 

 Set : a young plant for propagation. 

 Silo : a house or pit for packing away green food for winter use so 



as to exclude air and moisture. 

 Sire: father. 

 Smut : a disease of plants, particularly of cereals, which causes the 



plant or some part of it to become a powdery mass. 

 Spike : a lengthened flower cluster with stalkless flowers. 

 Spiracle : an air opening in the body of an insect. 

 Spore : a small body formed by a fungus to reproduce the fungus. 



It serves the same use as seeds do for flowering plants. 

 Spray : to apply a liquid in the form of a very fine mist by the aid of 



a spraying pump for the purpose of killing fungi or insects. 

 Stamen : the part of the flower that bears the pollen. 

 Stamina: endurance. 

 Sterilize: to destroy all the germs or spores in or on anything. 



Sterilizing is often done by heat or chemicals. 

 Stigma : the part of the pistil that receives the pollen. 

 Stock: the stem or main part of a tree or plant. In grafting or bud- 

 ding the scion is inserted upon the stock. 

 Stover : as used in this book the word means the dry stalks of corn 



from which the ears have been removed. 

 Subsoil : the soil under the topspil. 

 Sulphur : a yellowish chemical element ; brimstone. 

 Taproot: the main root of a plant, which runs directly down into the 



earth to a considerable depth without dividing. 

 Terrace : a ridge of earth run on a level around a slope or hillside to 



keep the land from washing. 

 Thorax : the middle part of the body of an insect. The thorax lies 



between the abcjomen and the head. 

 Thermometer : an instrument for measuring heat. 

 Tillage : the act of preparing land for seed, and keeping the ground 



in a proper state for the growth of crops. 



