Agriculture for Beginners Part 38

=Seed bed=: the layer of earth in which seeds are sown.

=Seed selection=: the careful selection of seed from particular plants with the object of keeping or increasing some desirable quality.

=Seedling=: a young plant just from the seed.

=Sepal=: one of the leaves in the calyx.

=Set=: a young plant for propagation.

=Silo=: a house or pit for packing away green food for winter use so as to exclude air and moisture.

=Sire=: father.

=s.m.u.t=: a disease of plants, particularly of cereals, which causes the plant or some part of it to become a powdery ma.s.s.

=Spike=: a lengthened flower cl.u.s.ter with stalkless flowers.

=Spiracle=: an air opening in the body of an insect.

=Spore=: a small body formed by a fungus to reproduce the fungus. It serves the same use as seeds do for flowering plants.

=Spray=: to apply a liquid in the form of a very fine mist by the aid of a spraying pump for the purpose of killing fungi or insects.

=Stamen=: the part of the flower that bears the pollen.

=Stamina=: endurance.

=Sterilize=: to destroy all the germs or spores in or on anything.

Sterilizing is often done by heat or chemicals.

=Stigma=: the part of the pistil that receives the pollen.

=Stock=: the stem or main part of a tree or plant. In grafting or budding the scion is inserted upon the stock.

=Stover=: as used in this book the word means the dry stalks of corn from which the ears have been removed.

=Subsoil=: the soil under the topsoil.

=Sulphur=: a yellowish chemical element; brimstone.

=Taproot=: the main root of a plant, which runs directly down into the earth to a considerable depth without dividing.

=Terrace=: a ridge of earth run on a level around a slope or hillside to keep the land from was.h.i.+ng.

=Thorax=: the middle part of the body of an insect. The thorax lies between the abdomen and the head.

=Thermometer=: an instrument for measuring heat.

=Tillage=: the act of preparing land for seed, and keeping the ground in a proper state for the growth of crops.

=Transplant=: a plant grown in a bed with a view to being removed to other soil; a technical term used by gardeners.

=Tubercle=: a small, wart-like growth on the roots of legumes.

=Udder=: the milk vessel of a cow.

=Utensil=: a vessel used for household purposes.

=Variety=: a particular kind. For example, the Winesap, Bonum, aesop, etc., are different varieties of apples.

=Ventilate=: to open to the free pa.s.sage of air.

=Virgin soil=: a soil which has never been cultivated.

=Vitality= (of seed): vitality is the ability to grow. Seed are of good vitality if a large per cent of them will sprout.

=Weathering=: the action of moisture, air, frost, etc. upon rocks.

=Weed=: a plant out of place. A wheat plant in a rose bed or a rose in the wheat field would be regarded as a weed, as would any plant growing in a place in which it is not wanted.

=Wilt= (of cotton): a disease of cotton in which the whole plant droops or wilts.

=Withers=: the ridge between the shoulder bones of a horse, at the base of the neck.

=Yeast=: a preparation containing the yeast plant used to make bread rise, etc.