334 Nutrition and Selection. 
has studied the relation between the size of the seeds 
and rapidity of germination. 1 As a rule the larger seeds 
germinate faster than the smaller ones; and thus their 
weight favors the production of strong plants in more 
than one way. Moreover, as has long been known, the 
seeds which germinate the first are the best and produce 
the finest plants. When harvesting of flower seeds has 
to be done in the field, the first seeds often fall out before 
the harvest; they germinate easily and usually do so at 
once ; and we all know that from such seeds the finest 
specimens may be produced. In fact for certain definite 
species the handbooks recommend the practice of allow- 
ing them to sow themselves, since this self-sowing leads 
to much better results than are obtained even from seed 
carefully harvested at the proper time. 
The question as to where the best seeds occur on the 
plant is one that has been much discussed. Let us con- 
sider the sugar beet as our first instance. In this species 
2-5 or more fruits are associated to form a so-called clump 
(Fig. 62), in which the upper flower produces the larg- 
est seed Fig. 62 b) ; whilst the lateral seeds of the same 
clump are less fine and markedly smaller and differ 
amongst themselves very much in size. 2 This phenom- 
enon has been recently subjected by BRIEM to an exhaus- 
tive investigation. 3 He sowed the clumps, and planted 
out their individual seedlings separately in a row. In 
percentage value of from 18.9 to 20.1% of sugar, and with roots 
weighing 900-1100 grams. 
*VAN DE VELDE, Invlocd van de grootte dcr zaden op de kicmiiig. 
Botanisch Jaarb. Gent, 1898, pp. 109-131. 
* Keimungsgeschichte dcr Znckcrrubc, Landw. Jahrb., VIII, 1879, 
P- M, 
3 H. BRIEM, Studien fiber Samenruben, cincin Riibcnknaucl ent- 
stammend. Oesterr.-Ungar. Zeitschr. f. Zuckerindustrie und Land- 
wirthsch.. 1900. Pts. IT, TV, and VI. 
