38 LABORATORY MANUAL IN FIELD CROPS 



PRACTICUM NO. 29 



Object. A Study of the Characteristics of Some of the Com- 

 mon Legume Seeds. 



Materials. Four-ounce samples of the following legume 

 seeds : alfalfa, red clover, white clover, alsike clover, vetch, 

 Canada field peas, navy beans, crimson clover, cowpeas, 

 lespedeza ; disect lens. 



Method. Tabulate the examination in the notebook as 

 follows : 



STUDIES 



1. Seed, viewed from the two largest diameters: round, 

 oval, elliptical, kidney-shaped. 



2. Seed, viewed from the two smallest diameters : round, 

 oval, flat. 



3. Seed, length of largest diameter, 



4. Seed : orange, black, yellowish brown, yellow, reddish, 

 red, green, yellowish green. 



5. Hilum : round, oval, elongated. 



6. Radicle: more than half of the edge, half of the edge, 

 less than half of the edge. 



7. Radicle : tip prominent, tip not prominent. 



8. How many weed seeds in each pound of the varieties 

 examined ? 



9. What characteristics serve to identify each species ? 



REFERENCES 



Hunt's Forage and Fiber Crops, p. 150. 



Lyon and Montgomery's Examining and Grading Grains, pp. 87-93. 



