promptly and well, while small, shrunken seeds will produce, at Ijest, 

 only a comparatively weak growth. In an experiment conducted on 

 Purdue Univrrsity farm, large, plump seed wheat produced two and 

 six-tenths more bushels to the acre than other seed only a trifle smaller 

 and not quite so plump. In selecting seed oats, rye and wheat, it is 

 usually quite sufficient to blow and screen out the light and small 

 seed by means of the fanning mill. Seed corn, on the other hand, 

 may be large and plimip and yet lack vitality. This is very apt to be 

 true of the later varieties of corn, which may not become thoroughly 

 dry before freezing weather begins. As farmers frequently suffer 

 serious losses from poor seed corn, it is very important, in order to 

 avoid possible failure, to learn, before planting, whether the seed 

 will grow well or not. It is so easy to do this, that any boy or girl 

 may make the test, either at home or in the schoolroom, if the latter 

 , place is not allowed to get too cold at night. To make the test, place 

 one or two layei;, of blotting paper or heavy cloth on a plate. On this 

 put one hundred grains, taken at random from the seed to be tested. 

 Cover with t\\'o or more layers of the same material, set in. a warm 

 corner of the i-o(jui, and keep moist, but not wet. for a few days. 

 From time to time examine, and remove all grains which have germi- 

 nated. At the end of five or six days you can tell what per cent, of 

 the seed will germinate under favorable conditions. 



Other seeds may be tested in the same way, and if the test is made 

 in the schoolroom, all will be interested in watching the process of 

 germination and in noting the differences in the rate and order of 

 development of stem and roots of various plants. 



6. The Variely. The several rarieties of com, oats, wheat, etc., 

 differ much in size, manner of growth and hardiness; in ability to 

 endure extremes of wet and drouth, resist diseases and insects, a- 

 well as in adaptation to different soils and climates. To illustrate: 

 It has frequently happened in the experimental work at Purdue Uni- 

 versity that some varieties of wheat have been almost completely 

 winter 1-dlled, while others with the same treatment have escaped 

 serious injury. Again it frequently occurs that certain varieties which 

 can endure severe winters have been so seriously damaged by ru.st 

 alone as to reduce their yields twenty to fifty per cent. Late varieties 

 of corn have frequently suffered much more from dry weather than 

 early kinds when grown side by side on the University farm, ilany 

 other interesting illustrations might be given. We cannot always tell 

 just why one variety does better than another, but you can readily see 



