114 PLANTS AND ANIMALS 



Keep in a warm place and examine once a day, noting 

 the order in which the seeds sprout. 



b. Make several drawings of each seed, showing 

 the method by which the baby plant comes out of the 

 seed. 



c. Write a description of the roots, stem, and leaves 

 of each plant.* 



Note to teachers: This work may be extended over con- 

 siderable time and many other seeds may be sprouted. The 

 drawings and descriptions would make a good supplement to 

 the English and art work. 



43. The Testing of Seeds. 



All seeds do not sprout because all of them are not 

 perfect seeds, or have been harmed in some manner. It 

 is of very great importance to the farmer that he obtain 

 good seed, for otherwise he might plant many seeds 

 which would not grow. Tm*is the crop would be less 

 than it should be and the farm would not be as productive 

 as it might otherwise be. Most farmers now test their 

 seeds because they have learned that a little trouble in the 

 beginning will save them much money in the end. The 

 testing of seeds to see if they will all sprout is called the 

 germination test. 



Experiment 57. * Germination Tests. 



Apparatus: Shallow wooden tray, tacks, string. 



Materials: Sand, seeds of various kinds from va- 

 rious stores. 



a. Mark off the sides of the box into two-inch spaces 

 and drive a tack at each mark. Now lace the piece of 

 string backward and forward so as to divide the open 

 end of the tray into squares, two inches on each side. 

 * Adapted from Farmers' Bulletin 409, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



