388 Plant Physiology 



tions, the results confirm the view that embryos thus 

 treated are able to maintain themselves and sometimes able 

 to develop mature plants. The vigor and strength of the 

 plant, however, was in direct proportion to the degree of 

 maturity of the transferred embryo. In view of these 

 facts, it is unlikely that the selection of immature seeds is 

 to be recommended as a means of securing earliness, unless, 

 of course, all other methods fail. 



229. Conditions of harvesting and curing. - The con- 

 ditions of harvesting and curing form in a measure a con- 

 tinuation of the phenomenon of maturity, and a discussion 

 of these factors might be included in a broad interpretation 

 of the general process of maturity. However, it is a dis- 

 tinct phase of the subject and deserves full, independent 

 consideration in this place. Uniformly favorable con- 

 ditions for harvesting and curing a given crop, other factors 

 remaining fairly similar, may alone be sufficient to establish 

 seed production as an industry in a locality. 



Among the most striking instances of localization which 

 are to be found is that of the Santa Clara Valley, California. 

 This region has won an enviable reputation for seed- 

 growing, and over numerous other equally fertile localities 

 it possesses the distinct advantage of relative certainty 

 in the prevalence of uninterrupted dry conditions during 

 late summer and far into the autumn, the time when most 

 seeds are harvested. Hundreds of acres of the sweet-pea 

 are grown for seed in California, yet the sweet-pea is 

 equally thrifty and vigorous in many other sections of 

 the country. Dry summers and autumns are particularly 

 important, moreover, in cases where, in order to harvest 

 the seed, the whole crop must be cut, and there results 



