U4 THE BOOK OF NATURE STUDY 



paper on a tile which lies in a dinner plate containing a little 

 water. The whole is left in a warm place (60 to 65 Fahr.) 

 for not less than ten days, care being taken that the water in 

 the plate is replenished if necessary, and that the flannel or 

 blotting paper is maintained in a moist condition without being 

 soaked. At the end of the period the number of germinated 

 seeds is counted and expressed as a percentage. The experiments 

 will be more instructive if a variety of seeds are dealt with. For 

 example, three pupils might work with Carrot seed (these are 

 really fruits), three with Parsnip seed (also really fruits), three 

 with Cabbage seed, three with Peas, and so on. By arranging 

 for at least three samples of one kind of seed to be tested the 

 accuracy of the work is ensured, while the natural differences in 

 germinative capacity of the various seeds will also be brought 

 out. Thus it will probably be found, in the case of samples of 

 average excellence, that the percentage of germinated Cabbage 

 seed will be about three times that of the Parsnip seed, and that 

 Carrot seed comes somewhere about midway between these. If 

 a sufficiently large number of species are observed an interesting 

 table of results can be constructed. 



For practice in identifying seeds the teacher should keep 

 as many different sorts of seeds as he can procure, in small pill 

 boxes, to be distributed occasionally to the class. The supply 

 will require to be replenished every second year as a rule, because 

 old seeds lose their brightness and plumpness if kept longer than 

 that time. 1 



1 The writer finds that Messrs. Sutton & Sons, of Reading, supply seeds of the 

 following species and varieties in small glass tubes with metal caps at three shillings 

 per dozen tubes. Small bags of seeds for refilling the tubes are supplied by them at 

 one smiling and sixpence per dozen bags. 



Achillea Millefolium Festuca elatior 



Agrostis stolonifera ,, heterophylla 



Alopecurus pratensis 

 Anthoxanthum odoratum 

 Avena elatior 



flavescens 



Bromus inermis Lolium italicum 

 Schraederi ,, perenne 



Cynosurus cristatus annuum 



Dactylis glomerata Phleum pratense 



Festuca duriuscula Poa aquatica 



ovina 



ovina tenuifolia 



pratensis 



rubra 



