SEEDS 51 



seed and the conditions of the soil. It is a general 

 rule to plant seeds only as deep as is necessary to 

 keep them in moist soil. Very tiny seeds are not 

 covered with soil, but merely pressed into the soil 

 and kept moist by frequent rains. Clover is usually 

 sown by scattering the seed over the surface of the 

 ground. 



Quality of seeds. In raising plants for seeds, we 

 wish to make each plant produce as many perfect seeds 

 as possible. Large beans produce only a few seeds on 

 a plant, while the tobacco plant or a poppy may pro- 

 duce thousands of tiny seeds. In many farm crops 

 each plant usually produces several hundred seeds. 

 The number and quality of seeds from each plant de- 

 pend largely on the fertility and depth of the soil. 



QUESTIONS 



1. What are the parts of a seed ? 



2. How does a grain of corn differ from a bean ? 



3. Of what use to the germinating plant is the food stored in 

 the seed ? 



4. What three conditions are necessary to germination ? 



5. What things determine the depth to which seeds are 

 planted ? 



REFERENCE 



Farmers' Bulletins : 428, Testing farm seeds in the home and 

 in the rural school. 



