198 LESSOXS IN AGBICULTURE 



after shelling. But many farmers fail to do as well as 

 they know in this matter, as well as in many other mat- 

 ters, because it is "too much trouble." Many farmers 

 say that they can tell whether a kernel of corn will ger- 

 minate by cutting or biting off the tip cap and examining 

 the germ. No doubt most experienced corn growers can 

 do this, but even by this simple method they can not tell 

 which ears of corn will germinate most vigorously, and 

 it is the sure and healthy germination that counts most 

 throughout the entire life of the growing corn plant. 

 The boys and girls of the school will want to use the 

 surer and better method of testing seed corn. 



Practical Exercises 

 1. The Germinating Test Box 



Make a shallow box about two inches deep inside, fif- 

 teen inches wide and twenty-three inches long. Partly 

 fill the box with fine sand. The box may now be di- 

 vided into small squares by a checkboard lacing of wire 

 or twine across the top. It is convenient to have these 

 squares about l J /2 inches on a side, ten of them in a 

 row across the narrow way, and fifteen the other way. 

 Another way to obtain the squares, is to place over 

 the sand a cloth which has been checked into 100 squares 

 by an indelible pencil, or better still, with ink. Num- 

 ber each square from one to one hundred. The figure 

 below shows the manner of wiring and numbering when 

 the first method is used. 



Now take each ear separately, and with the point of a 

 pocket knife remove five kernels from the ear. The 

 kernels should be taken in succession from about an 



