SUGGESTED PRACTICUMS 293 



cots. Among the best are: Alfalfa, asparagus, barley, beans, beets, 

 broom corn, buckwheat, cabbage, canna. castor bean, clover, com, cow- 

 pea, cucumber, eggplant, endive, fennel, leek, lettuce, millet, morning 

 glory, mustard, nasturtium, oat. okra, onion, parsnip, pea, peanut, pepper, 

 peppergrass, pine, pumpkin, radish, rhubarb, r\'e, sage, salsify, spinach, 

 spruce, sunflower, tobacco, tomato, turnip, wheat. Weed seeds may 

 well be included also. 



Most of these will have to be soaked or even germinated before 

 they can be handled satisfactorily. The idea should be so to familiarize 

 the student with the truly named seeds that he can identify the various 

 kinds in mixtures of say 50 species — this as an examination. 



3. Germination test. — Select 50 or preferably 100 seeds from any 

 convenient number of species of seed; place in a seed tester or in 

 soil for sprouting; note the rate, date, number and strength of those 

 that sprout in given times and estimate the ^ alue of the seed upon the 

 basis of price and percentages of strong and weak seeds. (The same 

 seeds used in this practicum may be also made to serve in other prac- 

 ticums if desired. ) 



4. Germination studies. — Note. 1, the length of time required by 

 seeds of various kinds to sprout in a seed tester or preferably in 

 baked or steamed soil. 2. Note the appearance of the seedling, "what 

 it does with its seed coats, its cotyledons, w^hcther the cotyledons func- 

 tion as true leaves or only as storage organs, length of time before 

 true leaves are developed. As an examination, seedlings of any con- 

 venient number of species may be placed before each student for iden- 

 tification. No "catches" should be included. For instance, should a 

 student identify "collard" or "cauliflower" as ''cabbage," he should be 

 marked perfect, because both seeds and young seedlings of such are so 

 closely alike that no one can distinguish one from the other, 



5. Accelerating germination. — Divide a definite number of seeds into 

 two equal lots and plant one treated {as below), the other untreated. 

 side by side for comparison of rates of germination. A. Soak in water 

 — bean, pea, com, radish, cabbage, beet, cucumber, pumpkin, wheat, oat, 

 parsnip, carrot, spinach, tomato, sunflower. B. Immerse in five or six 

 times their volume of strong sulphuric acid in a test tube or wide- 

 mouthed bottle and stir or shake till all the seeds are wet. Let 

 stand 5 to 20 minutes, then wash in preferably running water for fully 

 five minutes. Plant at once. Kentucky cofl^ee tree, cotton, honey lo- 

 cust, locust, Abyssinian banana, canna. C. Pour enough boiling water 

 to cover, say, a pint of seeds and allow the whole to cool in a closed ves- 

 sel. Select samples for the class to compare in germination with dry 

 seeds of the same kinds. D. File or cut notches in canna. moon 

 flower, Abyssinian banana, wild cucumber, morning glory and lotus. 

 Plant these side by side with untreated seeds. E. Soak peach, plum, 

 cherry, walnut, butternut, hickor>' and similar two-valved. hard-shelled 

 seeds a few days ; freeze and thaw part of them several times and 

 plant some of each lot in comparison with dr>' ones. 



6. Re-gerujinntion of seeds. — Select 100 or 200 seeds of, say. 10 

 kinds of seeds — wheat, oats, peas, beans, corn, radish, dandelion, melon, 

 onion, pepper, spinach, tomato, buckwheat, clover — and germinate them. 

 When the sprouts are one-half to three-fourths inch long, dry them 

 in an airy drawer for, say, a week. Rub oflF the brittle sprouts and re- 

 germinate. Note how rapidly or slowly this occurs, also how many 

 times it may be done with the various species. 



7. Large z-s. small seeds. — Count 100 large and 100 small seeds 

 from an unwinnowed sample of, say, radish, turnip or mustard — the 



