SEEDS AND SEEDLINGS 25 
‘ 5. To learn: How to test seeds. 
Take a deep pie plate, nearly fill it with sand, and cover the sand 
with a circle of unglazed paper. Wet the paper and sand thoroughly. 
Lay on the paper a 
hundred seeds of each 
kind to be tested, then 
cover it with more wet 
paper and another pie 
plate, or a board, or a 
pane of glass, to hold moisture until the seeds are germinated. Then 
count them out as “strong,” ‘‘medium,” “weak,” or “dead.” 
6. To learn: How beans come up. 
Plant some beans in soil or sand, at least an inch deep, and when 
they come up, observe the process very carefully. What becomes of 
the cotyledons or seed leaves? Make 
two or three drawings showing different 
stages of this early growth of the bean. 
7. To learn: How squash, pump- 
kins, and melons come up. 
Plant these seeds in soil or sand and 
observe how they come up. Compare 
them with each other and with the bean. 
What becomes of the cotyledons in these 
a. Showing how beans come cases? Watch them for a week after they 
up are up and see if the cotyledons meet the 
b. Showing how squash, same fate as those in the bean. Make a 
pumpkins,andmelonscomeup. few drawings. 
8. To learn: How peas come up. 
Plant some peas in sand or earth and when they come up observe: 
(a) Does the tip point straight up as it comes out of the ground, or is it 
bent over? What advantage do you see in this? (b) Do the seed 
leaves come out of the ground, or what becomes of them? Dig up a 
