CHAPTER XIII 



THE MICROSCOPE AND AGRICULTURE 



PROBABLY there are not many farmers 

 who use a microscope and fewer still who 

 use one to help them in their business, 

 yet there are few people to whom one of these 

 instruments would be more useful. Their seeds 

 are often far from pure and the microscope will 

 reveal the impurities which may consist of dirt 

 and dust, or of other seeds, seeds which will 

 grow into weeds and make the crop less valuable 

 or, if present in large quantities, render it valueless. 

 Agricultural plants become attacked by varied 

 diseases which can only be studied under the 

 microscope; insects also do their share of destruc- 

 tion and much may be learned about them when 

 they are magnified. Fungi and insects not only 

 attack crops but domestic animals as well. The 

 microscope is an invaluable aid in studying the soil, 

 in dairy work and in many other ways closely 

 connected with agriculture. 



That the testing of agricultural seeds is very 

 important is shown by tha fact that xiot very long 



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