24 NATURE TEACHING. 



recommended by the Kansas State Experi- 

 ment Station, will enable the pupil to carry 

 out investigations on his own account. He 

 should test the vitality of half a dozen or 

 more of the common kinds of garden seeds 

 purchased locally. (These experiments should 

 be reserved for senior pupils and advanced 

 classes.) 



2. " A cheap and convenient form of 

 apparatus for testing the vitality of seeds at 

 home is the following : Choose two earthen- 

 ware plates of the same size. Cut out two 

 circular lavers of flannel somewhat smaller 



i/ 



than the plates. Between the two layers 

 place 100 seeds of the variety to be tested. 

 Moisten the flannel with all the water it will 

 absorb. The two layers of flannel are placed 

 in one plate and covered with the other and set 

 in a warm place. If the flannel is thin, several 

 pieces should be used in order to absorb suffic- 

 ient water. Other kinds of absorbent cloth or 

 blotting paper can be used, but thick flannel is 

 rather more satisfactory. At the Kansas Ex- 

 periment Station we have used damp sand 



for a seed-bed with good success 



The flannel should be kept moist by the 

 addition of more water when necessary. Some 

 seeds will commence to germinate on the third 



