Propagation and Care of Plants 



U. S. D. A. 



FIG. 43. The "rag doll" method of testing seed corn. The cloth, with the 

 test grains in place, was rolled and tied, and it was kept thoroughly damp 

 until the seeds germinated. The ten grains on each of the squares came 

 from a separate ear that bore the number in the square. The ears numbered 

 8, 9, and 14 should not be planted. 



minate at all ; others germinate so feebly that the plant 

 will either die or be weak and puny. Therefore seeds 

 should be tested before they are planted (Fig. 43). 



A convenient method of testing seeds is to count out A simple 

 a certain number, as one hundred, spread them on one 

 end of a flannel cloth that has been wrung out of water 

 so as to be damp but not saturated, and lay the other 



