Seeds for the Garden 139 
year old. Do this several weeks in advance of the 
planting dates, so that there will be time to secure a 
new supply if necessary. 
There are several simple methods of testing for ger- 
mination. One plan is to count out a number of seeds 
and plant them in garden soil in a seed box, a’flat, or a 
pan. Place this seed pan in a warm room, in a green- 
house, or in a hotbed. Keep the soil properly moist. 
The number of seeds that germinate will indicate how 
viable the seeds are. 
Another simple method is the blotter test. A blotter 
is laid on an ordinary plate, seeds are placed on the 
blotter, and the whole is covered with an inverted plate 
and kept in a warm room. If the blotter is saturated 
with water daily, the seeds will receive sufficient moisture 
for germination. The proportion of embryos that start 
to grow may readily be observed. 
Thus we learn that when we plant seeds we are placing 
in the earth little plants which we hope to grow to maturity 
for the food they afford. ‘The care which is given in prepar- 
ing thesoil, planting the seed, and rearing the plants deter- 
mines to a large extent what the quantity and special 
quality of the food will be. But the kind of plant and 
the kind of food it will produce is already determined 
through its parentage and ancestry. 
We cannot afford to plant poor seed. We can avoid 
many of the risks regarding quality of seed. We can 
buy seed of pure varieties or strains from reliable firms, 
or we can control and select the parentage when pro- 
