Fig. 299. Radish seeds germinating between blotting-paper and the side of a tumbler.
Was not this a good record for a little girl to make? I wish that she had told something about the soil in which she planted the seeds. This is always important. In winter you may have some difficulty in getting soil, but in the village a florist will let you have some, and in the country you may be able to get it in the cellar of a grocery store or from your own cellar. Perhaps you can find some in the potato bin. When there is a "thaw," get some soil, even if it is very wet; you can dry it near the stove. Perhaps your schoolhouse will be too cold over Sunday in mid-winter to allow you to grow plants. If so, plant the seeds at home.
When you have planted your seeds, unless you take them up every day, you cannot see how the little plants are behaving down under the soil. I want to tell you how you can know some things that the plants are doing without disturbing them.
Choose an ordinary glass ([Fig. 299]), roll up a piece of blotting paper so that it is a trifle smaller than the glass, and place it inside. Between the blotting paper and the glass, put a few radish seeds or any kind of seed such as you planted in the soil. Keep the blotting paper moist and watch what happens. In four or five days the plants should be "up." Here are some things to think about as you watch them:
1. Note any change in the seeds when they have been moist for a few hours.
2. What happens to the outer coat of the seed?
3. In what direction does the little root grow? The stem?
4. Notice the woolly growth on the root? Does this growth extend to the tip of the root?
5. When the little plant has begun to grow, turn it around so that the root is horizontal. Does it remain in that position?
6. How soon do the leaves appear?