Agriculture for Beginners Part 37

=Inoculate=: to give a disease by inserting the germ that causes it in a healthy being.

=Insectivorous=: anything that eats insects.

=Kainit=: salts of potash used in making fertilizers.

=Kernel=: a single seed or grain, as a kernel of corn.

=Kerosene emulsion=: see Appendix.

=Larva= (plural =larvae=): the young or immature form of an insect.

=Larval=: belonging to larva.

=Layer=: to propagate plants by a method similar to cutting, but differing from cutting in that the young plant takes root before it is separated from the parent plant.

=Legume=: a plant belonging to the family of the pea, clover, and bean; that is, having a flower of similar structure.

=Lichen=: a kind of flowerless plant that grows on stones, trees, boards, etc.

=Loam=: an earthy mixture of clay and sand with organic matter.

=Magnesia=: an earthy white substance somewhat similar to lime.

=Magnify=: to make a thing larger in fact or in appearance; to enlarge the appearance of a thing so that the parts may be seen more easily.

=Membrane=: a thin layer or fold of animal or vegetable matter.

=Mildew=: a cobwebby growth of fungi on diseased or decaying things.

=Mold=: see mildew.

=Mulch=: a covering of straw, leaves, or like substances over the roots of plants to protect them from heat, drought, etc., and to preserve moisture.

=Nectar=: a sweetish substance in blossoms of flowers from which bees make honey.

=Nitrate=: a readily usable form of nitrogen. The most common nitrate is saltpeter.

=Nitrogen=: a chemical element, one of the most important and most expensive plant foods. It exists in fertilizers, in ammonia, in nitrates, and in organic matter.

=Nodule=: a little knot or b.u.mp.

=Nutrient=: any substance which nourishes or promotes growth.

=Organic matter=: substances made through the growth of plants or animals.

=Ovary=: the particular part of the pistil that bears the immature seed.

=Ovipositor=: the organ with which an insect deposits its eggs.

=Oxygen=: a gas present in the air and necessary to breathing.

=Particle=: any very small part of a body.

=Perennial=: living through several years. All trees are perennial.

=Petal=: a single leaf of the corolla.

=Phosphoric acid=: an important plant food occurring in bones and rock phosphates.

=Pistil=: the part of the blossom that contains the immature seeds.

=Pollen=: the powdery substance borne by the stamen of the flower. It is necessary to seed production.

=Pollination=: the act of carrying pollen from stamens to pistils. It is usually done by the wind or by insects.

=Porosity=: the state of having small openings or pa.s.sages between the particles of matter.

=Potash=: an important part of plant foods. The chief source of potash is kainit, muriate of potash, sulphate of potash, wood ashes, and cotton-hull ashes.

=Propagate=: to cause plants or animals to increase in number.

=Protein=: the name of a group of substances containing nitrogen. It is one of the most important of feeding stuffs.

=Pruning=: tr.i.m.m.i.n.g or cutting parts that are not needed or that are injurious.

=Pulverize=: to reduce to a dustlike state.

=Pupa=: an insect in the stage of its life that comes just before the adult condition.

=Purity= (of seed): seeds are pure when they contain only one kind of seed and no foreign matter.

=Ration=: a fixed daily allowance of food for an animal.

=Raupenleim=: a patented sticky substance used to catch the cankerworm.

=Resistant=: a plant is resistant to disease when it can ward off attacks of the disease; for example, some varieties of the grape are resistant to the phylloxera.

=Rotation= (of crops): a well-arranged succession of different crops on the same land.

=Scion=: a shoot, sprout, or branch taken to graft or bud upon another plant.