116 PLANTS AND ANIMALS 



sand. Keep in a warm room, watering now and then, 

 the seeds which are good will have sprouted. Good seed 

 should have every seed sprout. 



44. The Proper Planting of Seeds. 



While good seeds are necessary, if they are not 

 properly planted they will not grow well and perhaps 

 not at all. If the seeds are planted too deeply they may 

 die before they can reach the light, while if they are not 

 planted deeply enough they may become dried by the 

 sun and killed by too much light upon the delicate roots. 

 The depth of planting of seeds varies from one-eighth of 

 an inch, in the case of celery seeds, to four inches in the 

 case of the white potato. If the ground is very damp 

 the seeds may be planted less deep than if the ground is 

 quite dry. Why? Sometimes seed beds are shaded 

 from the sun. Can you explain the reason? 



There was no way for man to discover the proper 

 depth of planting except by experimenting. We can now 

 use the knowledge that has been acquired by others and 

 thus save time. However, let us try the experiment on a 

 few different seeds in order to see why it is that the 

 plants do not grow well if the seeds are not planted at 

 the proper depth. 



Experiment 58. *The Proper Depth of Planting. 



Apparatus: Several deep, wide-mouthed bottles, 

 such as pickle bottles, black cloth to cover bottles. 



Materials: Loam, seeds of various vegetables and 

 flowers. 

 * Adapted from Farmers' Bulletin 408, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



