380 Elementary Principles of Agriculture 



Bacteria. A name applied to a class of very small parasitic plants. 



There are many kinds, most of which are beneficial to man. 



Some species are the cause of disease in man and the higher 



animals or plants. 

 Biennial. A plant that grows during the first year, and forms seeds, 



and dies the year following, such as turnips, beets. 

 Bioplasm. The living substance of cells. See Protoplasm. 

 Blight. A diseased condition of plants in which the entire plant 



or some part withers and dries up. 



Bordeaux Mixture. A mixture of lime and copper sulphate (blue- 

 stone), used to prevent fungus diseases on plants. It takes its 



name from Bordeaux, France, where it was first used. 

 Botany. The science that deals with plants. 

 Breeding. Plant-breeding; animal-breeding. The practice of 



selecting out the best individuals for propagation. 

 Bud (noun). An undeveloped branch. 

 Bud (verb). To insert a bud, as in the practice of budding. 

 Bud Variation. Where a bud produces a branch that possesses 



characteristics different from the parent plant. New forms 



originating in this way are called sports. 

 Bulb. A stem with thickened leaves overlapping one another, as in 



the onion, Easter lily, etc. 



Calcareous. Limy, or having the properties of lime. 

 Calcium. A chemical element giving limestone its distinctive prop^ 



erties. 

 Callus. The growth of extra tissue over cut or wounded places on 



plants. 



Calyx. The outermost circle of leaves in a flower. 

 Cambium. The growing layer of cells lying between the bark and 



the wood. 

 Cannon. The shank bone above the fetlock in the fore and hind legs 



of the horse. 

 Capillarity. The phenomenon exhibited by the rise of liquids in small 



or hair-like tubes. 

 Carbon. The principal chemical element in plants. Charcoal and 



graphite are forms of carbon. 

 Carbon Assimilation. The process carried on in the cells of green 



plants in assimilating the carbon of the carbon dioxid of the air. 

 Carbon Dioxid. A gas formed whenever substances containing 



carbon are burned. 



