66 PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 



the soil will not be beaten down or soaked by rain. In 

 such a box the soil can be kept properly moist, and ants 

 cannot reach the seed. Therefore the seed has a better 

 chance to germinate than it is likely to have in the 

 ground. 



Advantages of Seed Beds. A seed bed is a place in 

 which seeds are planted close together to germinate, and 

 from which the seedlings are afterward transplanted to 

 their permanent places. The seed bed may be a box or 

 a small plot of ground. Its use gives some advantages 

 over planting seeds in their permanent places. The 

 young plants can be growing in the seed bed at the same 

 time that the ground is being cultivated to receive them. 

 In this way considerable time can be gained, and in the 

 case of some crops which thrive well during only a part 

 of the year, this gain of time is important. 



Richer and finer soil than that of the garden can be 

 used in the seed bed. This makes the growth of young 

 seedlings very vigorous, and a good start is just as im- 

 portant to a plant as to a boy. The soil in the seed bed 

 should be light, and fine, and deep, so that the roots 

 will be injured as little as possible when transplanted. 

 Suggestions for transplanting have already been given 

 (see page 40). As a rule, root crops should not be trans- 

 planted. 



ROOT CROPS 



Camote. Root crops are those which are cultivated 

 for the sake of the roots. Some plants cultivated for 

 the sake of underground stems are also called root crops. 



