jS 



BEGINNERS' HOT ANY 



caso-knifc bean, acorn, liorsc-chcstnut. Squash scoJs arc cxrcllcnt. 

 for jjerniination studies, because tlie cotyledons become green and 

 leafy and germination is rapid. Onion is excellent, except that it 

 germinates too slowly. In order to study the root development of 

 germinating phuitlets, it is well to provide a deeper box with a ghis.'i 

 side against which the seeds are planted. 12. Observe the germina- 

 tion of any common seed about the house premises. When elms, oaks, 

 pines, or maples are abundant, the germination of their seeds may 

 be studied in lawns and along fences. 13. When studying germina- 

 tion the pupil should note the differences in shape and size between 

 cotyledons and {duinulc leaves, and between )>luniiile leaves and the 

 normal leaves (Fig. ."^O). Make drawings. 14. Make the tests de- 

 scribed in the introductory experiments with bean, corn, the castor 

 bean, and other seed for starch and proteids. Test flour, oatmeal, 



rice, sunflower, four o'clock, 

 various nuts, and any other 

 seeds obtainable. Record yonr 

 results by arranging the seeds 

 in three classes, 1. Much starch 

 (colour blackish or purple) . 2. 

 Little starch (pale blue or 

 greenish), 3. No starch (brown 

 or yellow). 15- Rate of 

 groicth of seedlings as affect- 

 ed hi/ differences in tempera- 

 ture. Pack soft wet paper to the depth of an inch in the bottom of 

 four glass bottles or tumblers. Put ten soaked peas or beans into 

 each. Cover each securely and set them in places having different 

 temperatures that vary little. (A furnace room, a room with a stove, 

 a room without stove but reached by sunshine, an unheated room 

 not reached by the sun). Take the temperatures occasionally with the 

 thermometer to find difference in temperature. The tumblers in 

 warm places should be covered very tightly to prevent the germination 

 from being retarded by drying out. Eecord the number of seeds 

 which sprout in each tumbler within 1 day, 2 days, 3 days, 4 days, 

 etc. 16. Is air necessary for tJie germination and growth of seed- 

 lings? Place damp blotting paper in the bottom of a bottle and 

 fill it three-fourths full of soaked seeds, and close it tightly with a 

 rubber stopper or oiled cork. Prepare a "check experiment" by 

 having another .bottle with all conditions the same except that it 

 is covered loosely that air may have access to it, and set the bottles 

 side by side (why keep the bottles together?). Eecord results as in the 



Fig. 30. — MusKMELON Seedlings, with 

 the unlike seed-leaves and true leaves. 



