SUPPLEMENT 



cotyledons of the malva along our waysides may be as welcome as 

 heralds of our green season as is the first robin's note to our Eastern 

 friends. Lesson V in the Reader assumes that the teacher will 

 encourage pupils to observations of this sort. It is specially urged 

 that much attention be paid to plants encountered every day, to way- 

 side plants like the filaree and bur-clover. The very fact that these 

 two introduced plants have gained such a foothold in our state proves 

 that they have many traits worth studying. But the great point to be 

 gained, is the feeling that there is a world of interest in common 

 things. 



Much of the physiology of seedlings must be taken on authority in 

 elementary school work. But there are many simple experiments 

 that require little time or apparatus. If scales or balances are 

 available, the amount of water seeds absorb in a given time can be 

 tested, or the teacher can devise other means for measuring the water 

 used. Many seeds germinate readily in moist air. The development 

 of these seedlings can be very clearly seen ; they show root-hairs and 

 root-tips beautifully and lend themselves to many experiments. A 

 moist air chamber is made by simply putting pieces of wet blotting 

 paper in any convenient dish and keeping it rather closely covered. 

 A piece of glass is a convenient cover because the seedlings can be 

 watched without letting the moist air escape. The seeds should be 

 soaked, then simply laid on top of the paper. They germinate better 

 in the dark as can be shown by keeping one of two dishes covered 

 with a piece of black cloth. In the experiment of determining where 

 the growth of the root takes place, common pen and ink may be used. 

 Notice that no matter how the seeds are placed on the paper the roots 

 always point downward. To show that this is not due solely to the 

 moist substratum, pin seedlings to a cork after the radicle has first 

 broken through, and keep the apparatus in a moist air chamber. Bell 

 jars or any wide-mouthed glass vessels are very convenient for use in 

 experiments with seedlings. Wheat grows prettily on a sponge 

 placed over a glass of water when the whole is covered so as to keep 

 the air moist. Mustard seeds grow very quickly on a piece of gauze 

 stretched over a glass full of water, the whole covered with a large 

 glass vessel. If one side of the apparatus is kept light and the other 

 darkened, the stems grow toward the light and the roots away from 

 it in a very striking way. 



Any seedlings enclosed in a fruit jar will illustrate transpiration. 

 To make sure that the moisture is given off through the epidermis of 

 the leaves and stems, the cut ends of the stems should be sealed with 

 wax or gum of some sort. Corn leaves transpire so rapidly that the 



