THE PLANT 



Time oj Planting. Seeds vary greatly in the amount of warmth 

 that they require for germination; this requirement determines 

 the time of planting. Cotton, for instance, requires much heat, and 

 oats need little; so cotton is planted late in spring when the soil 

 is warm, and oats early in spring or in fall when it is cool. Plants 

 of the same family vary greatly in this respect. Corn and wheat 

 both belong to the great cereal family. Corn requires much 

 warmth ; wheat takes so little that it has been known to germinate 

 on ice. 



EXPERIMENTS 



1. Save seed from your largest and from your smallest pansies and 

 plant some of each in garden mold and in poor soil. Note the resulting 

 differences. 



2. Examine a handful of 

 wheat for impurities. 



3. Make a seed-tester. To 

 do this, dip two pieces of flannel 

 in boiling water in order to de- 

 stroy mold. Lay one piece in 

 a plate and put on it one hun- 

 dred seeds, such as clover. Put 

 over them the other piece of 

 flannel and cover with another 

 plate. Add water when neces- 

 sary so as to keep the flannel 

 moist, and keep the seed-tester 

 at a temperature of 70 to 80. 

 The seed will germinate in a 

 few days. The number which 

 germinate shows the per cent of 



vitality. Two pieces of wet blotting paper may be used for a seed- 

 tester. The seed is placed between the two, and they are kept damp. 

 Several layers of these can be kept in a shallow wooden box. 



A SMALL SEED-TESTER 

 A, closed ; B, open. 



