CHAPTER XIII 
SEED GERMINATION 
What a Seed Contains.-— Those plants which we grow 
so abundantly for our major crops are nearly all pro¬ 
duced from seeds. Cotton, corn, wheat, oats, and clover 
are seed bearing plants. Seeds are really the beginnings 
of new plants. Examine a grain of corn and you will find 
that it has a heart made up of a small germ or embryo, 
surrounded by a large amount of food. This nourishment 
is in the form of starches, proteins, and fats, which serve 
as food for the young seedling. 
Dormant Seeds. —As long as the seed remains hard 
and dry, it will not grow. The little germ is in a dormant 
condition, awaiting favorable conditions of heat and 
moisture. Is this not a wise provision of Nature? If 
seeds of cotton and corn did not remain dormant during 
winter, there would not be enough seeds to plant during 
the coming season, also, the human race would not have 
the supply of flour, meal, and starches necessary for the 
maintenance of life. Thus, seeds not only reproduce the 
plant but produce food for men and animals. 
Good Seed Necessary.— Our object in planting a 
crop should be to secure the greatest returns for the labor 
and capital invested. Nothing insures a wider margin 
of profit than good seed. It is no more expensive to culti¬ 
vate a crop of high yielding corn or cotton than the low 
yielding varieties. Why not get forty bushels of corn 
per acre instead of thirty, if we can do it with very little 
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