284 NATURE STUDY REVIEW [10:7— Oct., 1914 



(c) What are the fleshy seed-leaves for? Plant some beans in 

 earth, and as soon as they are up clip from some plants both 

 cotyledons, from others clip one and leave others untouched. 

 Note future growth. 



id) Will seeds sprout in the darkness ? 



ie) Will they sprout in dry earth? 



(/) What if the earth is kept saturated with water like a badly 

 drained field. 



(g) See whether seeds will sprout if the soil is kept at a tem- 

 perature of 35° or 40° F. 



{h) Devise an experiment to see whether air is necessary for 

 sprouting. 



{i) A germination test — place 100 grains of wheat, between two 

 sheets of blotting paper; cover with moss, sawdust, or sand kept 

 moist and warm. After a few days uncover and count the sprouted 

 seeds. Try with shrivelled grains, plump grains, grains that have 

 sprouted once before and dried, try last year's grain, grain 2,3,4 

 years old, etc. Test grains of corn from various parts of the cob. 

 Test the vegetable and flower seeds before planting and prevent 

 future disappointment. 



II. Soil: 



(a) Fill two equal sized boxes, one with moist humus, the other 

 with moist sand ; weigh and leave in a warm room for two or three 

 days. Again weigh and note which loses water more rapidly. 



(6) Fill a box with himius, another with clay, another with a 

 mixture of clay and humus. In each plant com. Compare the 

 crops. 



{c) Deprive all the com in (5) of water. Which field suffers 

 first? 



{d) Fill two equal sized tin cans with moist soil making them 

 equal in weight. Pack the surface of one and loosen the surface of 

 the other to a depth of an inch. Weigh from time to time noting 

 the effect of the dry mulch in conserving moisture. The applica- 

 tions are many and of great importance. 



{e) After a lesson on capillarity, arrange several glass tubes 

 about three feet long and one inch in diameter. Fill these with 

 humus, fine sand, coarse sand, clay, etc., respectively, and stand 

 them vertically with lower ends in water. Compare rates and 

 heights of the rise of the water. 



