280 THE YEAR-BOOK OF AGRICULTURE. 



examination. All the fig tribe yield a kind of Gutta percha. Euphorbia cattamudus and 

 another species — common in India — give a gum like it. The sap of the Muddar-tree is firm 

 and white, and equal in all things to Gutta percha. The inspissated sap or juice of the cul- 

 tivated Artocarpus (bread-fruit) and the Lola-tree of Ceylon, give substitutes for Caoutchouc 

 or Gutta percha. The Gutta thoor can be made to rival Gutta percha. Asclepia giyantca of 

 the West Indies gives a sort of Gutta percha, and the tree abounds there. 



On the Germination of Seeds. 



The following practical observations on the germination of seeds is communicated to the 

 Hortieulturali-t, by Thomas Meehan, of Philadelphia: — 



There are probably few branches of horticulture so ill understood as the management of 

 seeds. A package of seeds may be placed in the hands of two men, divided between each, 

 and sown by each in his peculiar way ; and while one succeeds in raising plants, the other 

 fails. Sometimes the individual who succeeds in raising some particular seed one season, will 

 himself" fail in another, though to all appearances the seed was gathered, preserved, aud treated 

 exactly in the same manner. There is one class of seeds which preserve their vitality to irre- 

 gular periods without any extraordinary intervention. The seeds of the cucumber aud melon 

 will keep fresh so long, that gardeners say the longer they are kept, the better they are ; 

 which, if true, would render them of remarkable value by "the end of the world." Never- 

 theless, they certainly will keep fresh a great many years. The turnip, the balsam, or lady- 

 slipper, and the parsley are instances of easy vitality, though of a few years less than the 

 gourd tribe; while the onion, spinach, or lettuce will seldom germinate over one year. In 

 all these oases, their preservation is owing to their not being in a position to admit of the me- 

 chanical action of heat and moisture in preparing their integuments, or outer coverings, for 

 the chemical action of the elements conducive to germination. 



It will be sufficient here to remark that the vitality of seeds is entirely dependent on his 

 relative position of heat and moisture. Some seeds require more moisture than others to 

 tempt them to germinate ; others must be indulged with more heat than water, in comparison: 

 but every kind of seed requires its own due proportion of each. Seeds of many plants, as 

 the water-lilies, will only grow in water; and of these, some, as the Victoria, must have an 

 accompanying degree of heat of over 70°, while our yellow pond-lily will germinate at 55°. 

 Other plants, as the balsam, thunbergia, globe amarauthus, &c., will readily grow in compara- 

 tively dry soil. 



An examination of the principles concerned in germination teaches us that in preserving the 

 vitality of seeds, or in accelerating their germination, a great part of our attention has to be 



directed to their outer coverings. Seeds can not Lose their vitality while these remain perfect) 



while they will be in a condition to vegetate whenever this covering is prepared to admit 



moisture. The different results in the experience of different parties in the time required by 



certain Beeds to grow, is entirely dependent on this. If A. preserve his Beed during the winter 



that the hu-k becomes bard and bony, while B. guards his from such a contingency, the 



hitter will arrive at much l <■ speedy results than the former. bet us take an example : the 



sugar-maple will do. A. gathers his at the (all of the leaf, preserves it in a dry seed-room, 



BOWS it in the Spring, and it does not come up till twelve months afterward-. Rut B. gathers 

 it at the same time, put- it in the ground at onOO, and gets tine plants the next 888800 : Off, he 

 gathers his asedfl by the end of Augutt, saves them in a cool room till spring, sows them, and 

 then get- plants also •• right away," in either case getting ahead of his neighbor. " Hut where 



i- the difference '.'" Simply, that 1'.. never allow- hi- seeds t" get hard, lie places them in the 

 ground to keep their shells soft ; or, to the bum end. he gathers them, n"t before their em- 



bryOS are roily formed, hut before their coat- have become indurated, and addl t" hi- preeau- 



t on by keeping them oool till sown. This la a simple experiment, which any one may test for 



him ■ 

 in moo folly raising seed, there Is more in this gathering of them before they are what 

 popularly ealled quite ripe, than one i- at Srst disposed to admit. I was many years ago 



struck bj thi-, through accident. On a fisit to a friend, he pointed out what he then consi- 



