SEEDS AND GERMINATION 



27 



periment in the wind. Remove tiie 

 wing from a seed and toss it and an 

 uninjured seed into the air together. 

 What do you infer from these ex- 

 periments .'' 



Suggestions. — Few subjects con- 

 nected with the study of plant-life are so 

 useful in schoolroom demonstrations as 

 germination. The pupil should prepare 

 the soil, plant the seeds, water them, and 

 care for the plants. 10. Plant seeds in 

 pots or shallow boxes. The box should 

 not be very wide or long, and not over 

 four inches deep. Holes may be bored 

 in the bottom so it will not hold water. 

 Plant a number of squash, bean, corn, 

 pine, or other seeds about an inch deep 

 in damp sand or pine sawdust in this 

 box. The depth of planting should be 

 two to four times the diameter of the 

 seeds. Keep the sand or sawdust moist 

 but not wet. If the class is large, use 

 several boxes, that the supply of speci- 

 mens may be ample. Cigar boxes and 

 chalk boxes are excellent for individual 

 pupils. It is well to begin the planting 

 of seeds at least ten days in advance of 

 the lesson, and to make four or five differ- 

 ent plantings at intervals. A day or two 

 before the study is taken up, put seeds 

 to soak in moss or cloth. The pupil 

 then has a series from swollen seeds to 



complete germination, and all the steps can be made out. Dry 

 seeds should be had for comparison. If there is no special room 

 for laboratory, nor duplicate apparatus for every pupil, each ex- 

 periment may be assigned to a committee of two pupils to watch 

 in the schoolroom. 11. Good seeds for study are those detailed 

 in the lesson, and buckwheat, pumpkin, cotton, morning glory, 

 radish, four o'clock, oats, wheat. It is best to use familiar seeds 

 of farm and garden. Make drawings and notes of all the events 

 in the germination. Note the effects of unusual conditions, as 

 planting too deep and too shallow and different sides up. For 

 hypogeal germination, use the garden pea, scarlet runner or Dutch 



Fig. 29. — Cones of Hem- 

 lock (above), White 

 Pine, Pitch Pine. 



