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.