All these will be placed in the hands of instructors in our normal schools and county normal training classes in order that the young people who are going out to teach may have had some specific instruction along agricultural lines and be able to give to the children the elementary ideas of agricultural pursuits. These bulletins are not intended to be textbooks exactly, but are to be used as the basis of simple experimentation and to supplement the use of certain text books that are now on the market. The bulletin on crops I give herewith in order that it may become a matter of public record. BULLETIN NO. 26. STATE OF MICHIGAN, DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. LANSING, November 15, 1907. To Commissioners, Superintendents and Teachers: The subject of nature study has been discussed for a number of years and has been taught in our public schools with such a degree of success that there is a general demand among those interested in agriculture that the subject of elementary agriculture shall also be taught. The president and faculty of the Agricultural College have given much time and thought to determine just what is meant by elementary agriculture and how much of agriculture can profitably be taught in the rural and village schools. At the request of this Department, Joseph A. Jeffery, Professor of Agronomy in the Michigan Agricultural College, has prepared the material presented in the following pages as an elementary study in crops, and this bulletin is published for the purpose of putting into the hands of our teachers some simple and definite work in the subject of agriculture. We submit it to the schools and teachers of the State in the hope that it will be of material assistance in presenting this important subject to our students, and that ultimately we may be able to introduce into our courses of study a concise and profitable course in the subject of elementary agriculture. Very respectfully, L. L. Might Superintendent of Public Instruction. I. A study in seed germination-beans.... III. How the young plants appear above ground-beans. IV. How the young plants appear above ground-corn.. V. How the young plants appear above ground-other seeds. VII. The depth to which seeds should be planted.. VIII. Effect of age upon the vitality of seeds.. IX. The vitality of bin grains.... X. The vitality of sprouted grains. XI. The vitality of kernels from different parts of the ear of corn.. XIV. The effect of temperature on the germination of seeds.. The importance of early saving and drying of seed corn.. The ideal or perfect ear.. Score card-corn.... Outline for scor ng dent corn.. 7 8 8 INTRODUCTION. The farmer should understand the nature of a seed, its relation to the future plant, the importance of vitality in the seed, the conditions lessening its vitality, and the conditions requisite to preserve its vitality. He should understand also the conditions outside the seed upon which depends the production of vigorous plants. Upon such knowledge depends all rational practice in crop production. The following course of laboratory exercises has been outlined with a view to giving the pupil the opportunity of demonstrating for himself by actual experiment the importance of such knowledge. It is expected that some textbook will be studied in conjunction with this work. LABORATORY EQUIPMENT. The following apparatus will be needed: Two doz. dinner plates or pie tins. Two doz. discs of Canton flannel (or a like number of filter papers) of a diameter one inch less than that of the plates or pie tins. One doz. 600 c. c. lipped beakers. Two doz. one-quart bean pans (graniteware preferable). One doz. one-pint graniteware or porcelain dishes. Two doz. wooden boxes 18 inches long, 10 inches wide and 2 inches deep. Two hundred pounds of fine quartz sand. (This sand can be procured of the Wausau Quartz Co., of Wausau, Wis.) Two bushels of air-dry fine sand or fine sandy soil for germinating seed. A collection of seeds and grains for illustrative purposes and for experimental work. Tight boxes with covers should be provided to hold the sands and soil. Glass receptacles should be provided to hold the seeds and grains. Pint, quart, and two-quart Mason fruit jars make inexpensive and convenient receptacles. A SHORT COURSE IN SEEDS AND GRAINS. Make a collection of seeds and grains commonly grown on the farm. This collection should include beans, peas, clover, timothy, beets, wheat, oats, barley, corn, buckwheat, etc. Different varieties of each should be brought in so far as possible. Samples of each should be placed in 4 oz. screw-cap vials for later examination and reference, while larger quantities should be kept in bulk for study and experiment. Samples of many of these should be gathered in the pod, head, and ear, with portions or all of the plant. The extent to which this is done, beyond the study needs of the class, must depend upon the storage facilities of the laboratory or museum. The pupils should be required to help or indeed to do all the work of making the collection. THE STUDY OF THE SEED. The pupil should be made to understand that a seed or a kernel of grain consists of (a) a young plant, or embryo; (2) a supply of food prepared and stored for the use of the young plant until it can send out its roots and leaves; and (3) a coat inclosing both young plant and nourishment. That all this may be clear to the pupils, the following experiments should be performed, also observing the development of the plant from the seed: EXPERIMENT I. A Study in Seed Germination. Apparatus and material needed: Two ordinary dinner plates or two eight-inch pie tins. Two pieces of blotting or filter paper, or Canton flannel of proper size to rest in the plate or pan used. A beaker or cup of water. Ten beans of any variety. The experiment: 1. Place one of the pieces of paper or cloth in the bottom of a plate or tin. If the cloth is used, thoroughly wet and wring out before placing it in the bottom of the plate or tin. If the paper is used, wet thoroughly after it is set in place. 2. Distribute the ten beans over the paper or cloth. 3. Place the remaining paper or cloth over the beans, wetting the cloth before putting in place (or the paper afterwards). 4. Add water to the bottom of the plate or tin, but not enough to stand deeper than the paper or cloth lying on the bottom. 5. Cover the plate or tin by placing the remaining one, inverted, over it, and set in a warm room. 6. See, each day, that water enough is added to keep the moist condition of plate and paper, or cloth, about as it was the first day. 7. Examine the beans each day and (a) notice and record any changes that take place. (b) Open one bean each day for three days, and examine the embryo or young plant. 8. Set apart one particular bean and make a drawing of it each day for ten days, to show the changes that take place. EXPERIMENT II. A Study in Seed Germination. Apparatus and material needed: One dinner plate or eight inch pie tin. Two pieces of filter paper or two pieces Canton flannel of proper size to lie in bottom of plate or tin. Ten kernels of good seed corn. The experiment: 1. Place a piece of filter paper in a plate or tin and wet, or wet a piece of cloth and place in bottom of plate or tin. 2. Distribute the ten kernels of corn over the paper or cloth. 3. Place the remaining paper or cloth over the corn, properly wetting the paper after, or the cloth before, so placing. 4. Add water enough to just cover the bottom of the plate. 5. Cover the plate or tin by placing the remaining one, inverted, over it and set in a warm room. 6. See, each day, that the moist condition in the plate is kept about as it was the first day. 7. Examine the corn each day and note how the young plant makes its appearance and whether it is alike in all cases. 8 Set apart one particular kernel of corn and make a drawing of it each day for eight days to show the changes that take place. EXPERIMENT III. How the Young Plants Appear Above Ground. Apparatus and material needed: One one-quart pudding or bean pan. One quart of air-dry sandy soil. Ten beans. The experiment: 1. Fill the pan three-fourths full of the sandy soil, shake down, and smooth over. 2. Add water until the soil is thoroughly wet and the water begins to glisten in the surface of the soil. 3. Place the ten beans upon the soil in the pan-two on their sides, two on one end, two on the other end, two with the scar down, and two with the scar up. Make a chart of the planting. 4. Cover these beans to the depth of one-half inch with the air-dry soil. 5. If on the next day the soil is not all moist, add just water enough. to moisten. 6. Examine from day to day. Add water sufficient to keep surface from drying. Note (1) the manner and (2) the order in which the plants come up, and make a record of the same. 7. When the young plants have all appeared above the surface, carefully pull up one of them, examine, and make a drawing of it. Before pulling it may be necessary to loosen the soil. 8. Did the positions in which the beans were planted affect the order in which the young plants appeared? Did it affect the manner in which they came up? EXPERIMENT IV. How the Young Plants Appear Above Ground. Repeat Experiment III, using corn instead of beans. EXPERIMENT V. How the Young Plants Appear Above Ground. Repeat Experiment III using other seeds and grains, all together or separately, in order that the pupils may observe the manner in which the young plants appear above ground. EXPERIMENT VI. Quantity of Food Stored in Seed. Apparatus and material needed: One four-quart pan. One gallon of well-washed, pure quartz sand, or the same amount of good clean building sand, which has stood for some time in strong hydrochloric acid and then has been thoroughly washed. Four large and four very small kernels of the following: corn, wheat, oats, beans, and peas. |