6 BULLETIN 592, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Exercise 1. — Examination of Seed for Impurities. 
Special reference. — Testing Farm Seed in the Home and in the Kural School, 
Farmers' Bulletin 428. 
Lesson 3. — Germination and Testing of Seeds. 
1. Conditions essential to germination. 
2. Importance of seed testing. 
3. Methods of testing seeds. 
Special reference. — Testing Farm Seed in the Home and in the Rural School, 
Farmers' Bulletin 428. 
Exercise 2. — Testing Seeds for Viability. 
Note. — If the students have had some practice in testing farm seed, use garden 
seeds, such as onion, carrot, and parsnip, or flower seeds more difficult to test. 
Lesson 4. — The Hotbed. 
1. Principles and essentials of construction. 
2. Materials and methods of construction. 
3. Management. 
Illustrative material. — Diagrams and plans showing hotbed construction. 
Exercise 3. — Hotbed Construction. 
Special reference. — For directions for making a hotbed see Farmers' Bulletin 195, 
Annual Flowering Plants. 
Lesson 5. — The Seed Bed and Cold Frame. 
1. Purpose of the seed bed. 
2. Establishing and maintaining the bed. 
3. Seed flats and their use. 
4. The cold frame. 
5. The lath house. 
Special reference. — Frames as a Factor in Truck Growing, Farmers' Bulletin 460. 
Exercise 4. — Making and Using Seed Flats, Frames, etc. 
Lesson 6. — Asexual Propagation. 
1. Underlying principles. 
2. Advantages to the farmer. 
3. Advantages to the plant breeder. 
4. Natural methods. 
Lesson 7. — Propagation by Parts Intact. 
1. Suckers. 
2. Stolons. 
3. Layers. 
4. Division of the crown. 
Illustrative material. — Fresh material supplemented by charts to show various 
means of propagation. 
Lesson 8. — Propagation by Parts Detached. 
1. Specialized buds as bulbs, bulblets, corms, and tubers. 
2. Roots. 
3. Cuttings of various types. 
Exercise 5. — Propagation by Cuttings. 
