52 THE beginner's garden book 



pretty moist. The clay will, of course, keep air away 

 from the seeds much better than the sand or loam can. 

 If seeds sprout slowly in the clay, which do you think the 

 gardener would call an "early" soil, a sandy or a clayey 

 loam ? Write the answer, with your reasons, in the note- 

 book. 



A third help in germination is warmth. If these experi- 

 ments have so far been carried on in a heated building which 

 is not allowed to become very cold at night, the seeds have 

 doubtless sprouted well. But let us now take four tumblers, 

 and in each plant seeds in moist loam or sand, packing 

 it rather firmly, and then covering to' prevent drying. 

 Now put one of these tumblers in the schoolroom, another 

 in the coldest part of the cellar, another near the furnace, 

 or on a radiator, and the fourth in the ice-chest at home, or 

 wherever it can be kept very cold without freezing. Note 

 down the number of days before the different tumblers show 

 sprouting plants. Does the one in the ice-chest sprout at 

 all ? It is easy to conclude, of course, that the greater the 

 warmth, the quicker seeds will sprout. But apply this to 

 a shady and a sunny garden : which is the earlier ? And 

 which is the better, a northern slope, where the sun falls 

 slanting, or a southern one, where the rays strike straight ? 



It is interesting, again, to put in a rather cool place, 

 such as the cellar, tumblers containing seed of radish and 

 corn. Put others in the schoolroom ; and note down how 

 quickly the seeds sprout. Is the radish so much troubled 

 by the coolness of the cellar as is the corn ? You can try 

 this experiment with many seeds, and will find that some of 

 them, such as radish, lettuce, cabbage, clover, beets, or 

 spinach, will sprout in the cellar much more readily than will 

 corn, cucumber, or any squash, beans, eggplant, okra, or 

 tomato. Can you conclude from this that some seeds are 



