THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 135 



Along in the middle of December in passing one of these 

 sand piles of the preceding winter I noticed a furrow had been 

 cut through it by a recent warm rain. On one side of the wash 

 were several well germinated cucurbits which I first supposed 

 were gourds but in examining the seeds coats still attached to 

 the cotyledons I found them to be the wild cucumber seeds of 

 the previous winter's testing. This was surprising as the sand 

 pile had been frozen through in the early part of the month. On 

 the 10th of April, following, two of the plants pushed through 

 the sui face and later developed into sturdy vines. As the sea- 

 son advanced the blossoms appeared and in clue time the fruit 

 matured. These two plants therefore with the protection of 

 but a few inches of sand, which I replaced when washed away, 

 withstood the frequent freezings o>f the following winter months 

 in a fully germinated condition. Of those who know the plant 

 in its native haunts I would like to ask, do the seeds germinate 

 in very early spring or possibly in late winter? 



[The plant mentioned by Mr. Sempers, is fairly common in 

 many parts of the North Central and Middle States and in a 

 large part of its range the temperature often goes down several 

 degrees below zero every winter. We have found by experi- 

 ment that it is very difficult to start new plants from seeds kept 

 at ordinary room temperatures over winter, but if the seeds 

 are sown in autumn they germinate very readily in spring. The 

 plants being sensitive to frost, do not appear until danger from 

 frost is past, but the seeds appear much more resistant. We 

 had supposed that failure to grow in the case of seeds kept in 

 the house was due to their being killed by drying, but it is pos- 

 sible the seed-coats are impervious to either oxygen or water 

 and need a period in the soil during which the coats disintegrate. 

 Here is a problem still to be solved. — Ed.] 



