BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 33 



hundred sjiecies out of our common Drnha verna, it is hardly necessary to go back so 

 many a!;es tor anew species of Ghiurbnn. Many of the countries of Europe iiave not 

 been as well explored as our own, though so much older, antl it is quite as likely that 

 that "species" would be found somewhere within a hundred miles or so, as that it came 

 from seed that had been burieci in the earth for hundreds of years. 



Near me, a few years ago, a street was being graded, and pure i)rick clay from six 

 feet below the surface was spread over contiguous ground. Quite a quantity of Ambro- 

 sia artemiskefolin appeared on it, and I was asked: "Where did the seed come from if 

 it had not been in the gr -und for hundreds of years?" The asking of tluxt question 

 does not prove the antiquity of the seed. I thought I would get better proof. I took 

 eartli from six inches, one foot, two feet, and tour feet beneath the surface, and put eacli 

 lot in separate glass jars of water. Atter a long and careful stirring, tlie mud was 

 allowed to settle. The vegetable remains formed tlie upper course, tlie clay being the 

 lieaviest sinking to the bottom. The results were interesting in many respects, but I 

 may say briefly that there was no sign of any seed whatever after getting one foot below 

 the surface, and at six inches most of the remains were but the mere shells of dead 

 seeds. 



I am satisfied that if those who think seeds are "in the ground" waiting a chance 

 to grow, especially sucli large seeds as oaks, pines, hazel nuts, and so forth, will try this 

 easy and sim])]e plan, they will not take "where do tlie trees come from?" to mean that 

 tlie seeds have been for a long time in the ground. In !ormer papers, in other places, I 

 liave shown where the plants often do come from ; but it is not necessary to repeat those 

 observations now. — Thomas Meehan. 



"■Whence the Seeds?"— A.a important incident is narrated in the Plattsburg Republi- 

 can of Sept. 1st, 1877, by Mr. O. S. Phelps of Essex county, N. Y., which has such a 

 direct bearing upon the answer to the question proposed by Mr. Coleman in his com- 

 munication to the January number of the Gazette, that it seems worthy of repetition. 

 Though Mr. Phelps makes no claim to botanical knowledge he is a close and intelli- 

 gent observer of nature. The incident came under his own observation and is substan- 

 tially thus: 



Many years ago the timber was cleared from a piece of land and a log fence was 

 built along one side of this clearing. In a little time raspberry plants {BubuH striyosus) 

 made their appearance along this fence and gradually increased in luimberstill a con- 

 tinuous hedge of them skirted its cutire length. But the clearing was neglected and in 

 a few years a second crop of trees and shrubs had sprung up, which soon overtopped 

 the raspl)erries and ■'run them out;"'' in other words, destroyed them Ijy depriving them 

 of the necessary sunlight Twenty-five years passed away and this second crop of tim- 

 ber was cut, the land was again cleared, burned over and planted. Behold what fol- 

 lowed! At midsummer a dense crop of young raspberry shoots had sprung up all 

 along the line of the old log fence, marking its former position and showing every 

 crook and turn in its direction. Whence the seeds? Evidently they had been dropped 

 there by the old hedge-row of a (juarter of a century before, and had lain there buried 

 under fallen leaves and decaying vegetable mattei-, waiting for tlie quickening iiifiu- 

 ences of the sun's rays to call their latent ])owcis into activity and cause them to germ- 

 inate and grow. — Ciias. H. Peck. 



''Wlierc do the seeds come from?'' — The jirobaljilily is, that in most cases, (he wind 

 and animals are the transporters of the seed. The lilue-jay is particularly active in 

 storing seeds in and about trees and rocks. Wood-chucks and squirrels are also indus- 

 trious workers in this line. The agency of insects should not be overlooked; ants are 

 generous providers and keep their graneries well filled. Of course all this transpor- 

 tation is not accomplished without much waste by the way-side, and even the store 



