202 THE SPIRIT OF THE SOIL 



NOTE. (i) The comparative growth of the plants 

 at various stages. 



(2) The development of the root. 



(3) The colour and thickness of foliage. 



(4) The date at which blooms first appear. 



(5) The date at which the plants stop blooming. 



(6) The number of blooms obtained from each 

 plant throughout the season. 



(7) The size and colour of individual blooms. 



MODEL EXPERIMENT III. 



Moss Culture. 



Sterilize any variety of moss by heating it in steam. 

 The moss should not be boiled in water. The best 

 rough way of sterilizing the moss is to cover the 

 bottom of a large saucepan with \ inch of water. 

 Then cover the bottom of the saucepan 2 inches deep 

 with well-broken clean road-metal, or some similar 

 substance to prevent the water from reaching the 

 moss. Fill the rest of the saucepan with the moss, 

 and boil well for a quarter of an hour. Avoid heating 

 to dryness, and if necessary add water. The sauce- 

 pan should be covered. Better still an ordinary 

 kitchen steamer should be used. Nearly any plant 

 can be used for moss culture, but the following are 

 recommended : Potatoes, bulbs of all sorts, ferns. 



All that is necessary is to water the plant once a 

 week with humogen extract. Use the proportion of 

 i pint of humogen to 2 gallons of water. To prepare 

 the liquid mix the humogen in a jug with water not 

 warmer than can easily be drunk. Stand over 



