Agriculture for Beginners Part 36

=Compact=: a soil is said to be compact when the particles are closely packed.

=Concentrated=: when applied to food the word means that it contains much feeding value in small bulk.

=Contagious=: a disease is said to be contagious when it can be spread or carried from one individual to another.

=Cross=: the result of breeding two varieties of plant together.

=Cross pollination=: the pollination of a flower by pollen brought from a flower on some other plant.

=Croup=: the top of the hips.

=Culture=: the art of preparing ground for seed and raising crops by tillage.

=Curb disease=: a swelling on the back part of the hind leg of a horse just behind the lowest part of the hock joint. It generally causes lameness.

=Curculio=: a kind of beetle or weevil.

=Dendrolene=: a patented substance used for catching cankerworms.

=Digestion=: the act by which food is prepared by the juices of the body to be used by the blood.

=Dormant=: a word used to describe sleeping or resting bodies,--bodies not in a state of activity.

=Drainage=: the process by which an excess of water is removed from the land by ditches, terraces, or tiles.

=Element=: a substance that cannot be divided into simpler substances.

=Ensilage=: green foods preserved in a silo.

=Evaporate=: to pa.s.s off in vapor, as a fluid often does; to change from a solid or liquid state into vapor, usually by heat.

=Exhaustion=: the state in which strength, power, and force have been lost. When applied to land, the word means that land has lost its power to produce well.

=Fermentation=: a chemical change produced by bacteria, yeast, etc. A common example of fermentation is the change of cider into vinegar.

=Fertility=: the state of being fruitful. Land is said to be fertile when it produces well.

=Fertilization=: the act which follows pollination and enables a flower to produce seed.

=Fetlock=: the long-haired cus.h.i.+on on the back side of a horse's leg just above the hoof.

=Fiber=: any fine, slender thread or threadlike substance, as the rootlets of plants or the lint of cotton.

=Filter=: to purify a liquid, as water, by causing it to pa.s.s through some substance, as paper, cloth, screens, etc.

=Formalin=: a forty per cent solution of a chemical known as formaldehyde. Formalin is used to kill fungi, bacteria, etc.

=Formula=: a recipe for the making of a compound; for example, fertilizer or spraying compounds.

=Fungicide=: a substance used to kill or prevent the growth of fungi; for example, Bordeaux Mixture or copper sulphate.

=Fungous=: belonging to or caused by fungi.

=Fungus= (plural =fungi=): a low kind of plant life lacking in green color. Molds and toadstools are examples.

=Germ=: that from which anything springs. The term is often applied to any very small organism or living thing, particularly if it causes great effects such as disease, fermentation, etc.

=Germinate=: to sprout. A seed germinates when it begins to grow.

=Girdle=: to make a cut or groove around a limb or tree.

=Glacier=: an immense field or stream of ice formed in the region of constant snow and moving slowly down a slope or valley.

=Globule=: a small particle of matter shaped like a globe.

=Glucose=: a kind of sugar very common in plants. The sugar from grapes, honey, etc. is glucose. That from the sugar cane is not.

=Gluten=: a vegetable form of protein found in cereals.

=Graft=: to place a living branch or stem on another living stem so that it may grow there. It insures the growth of the desired kind of plant.

=Granule=: a little grain.

=Gypsum=: land plaster.

"=Head back=": to cut or prune a tree so as to form its head, that is, the place where the main trunk first gives off its branches.

=Heredity=: the resemblance of offspring to parent.

=Hibernating=: to pa.s.s the winter in a torpid or inactive state in close quarters.

=Hock=: the joint in the hind leg of quadrupeds between the leg and the shank. It corresponds to the ankle in man.

=Host=: the plant upon which a fungus or insect is preying.

=Humus=: the portion of the soil caused by the decay of animal or vegetable matter.

=Hybrid=: the result of breeding two different kinds of plants together.

=Hydrogen=: a chemical element. It is present in water and in all living things.

=Individual=: a single person, plant, animal, or thing of any kind.