IT IS WISE TO PLANT THE LARGEST SEEDS 



FIG. 34. Diagram of a seed. 



as. a rule, the stronger is the plantlet, and the more plenti- 

 ful is its food supply. This is true of different seeds of 



the same kind as of different kinds 

 of seed. The bean plantlets 

 in Figure 33 were able to come 

 up through an inch of soil be- 

 cause they were well supplied with 

 food and were strong. The 

 clover seeds, as compared with the 

 beans, are very small, and the 

 clover plantlets, as compared with 

 the bean plantlets, are very weak. 

 The clover plantlets were unable 

 to force their way through an 

 inch of soil, but, as we see by look- 

 ing at jar No. 3, they can grow through a quarter inch 

 of soil. As a rule, the larger a seed is. the deeper it may 

 be covered in planting. Like all rules, however, this is 

 subject to exceptions. 



Planting Very Small Seeds. As we learned from the 

 last lesson, plantlets that bring up thick seed leaves to the 

 surface can not grow through so much soil as those that 

 do not. It follows that the small-seeded plants whose 

 plantlets bring up their seed leaves must have their seeds 

 planted in the least depth of soil of all. The clover plant 

 belongs to this class, hence clover seed must be planted 

 very shallow, or the plants will not come up well. The 

 seeds of tobacco and petunia are much smaller than clover 

 seed, and they lift their seed leaves in coming up. It is 

 unwise to cover the seeds of these plants at all. As we 

 learned in Lesson 14, they are commonly sown on the 



