THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



521 



country to its mate in the heari of a town, undistracted 

 by all the contlicting odors of the city, the reek and fumes 

 of human habitations. Evidently also insects must often 

 find their food plants by a sense which is not that of sight. 

 When the smell of a butterlly then is perceptible even 

 to us, the presumption is that it is of large importance 

 to the life of the insect. Dr. LongstafT, a famous Eng- 

 lish entomologist, or "'bugologist," has experimented on 

 a vast number of insects, and the variety of scents which 

 he ascribes to various species ranges all the way from 

 such agreeable perfumes as those of heliotrope, syringa, 

 vanilla, sweet chocolate and sassafras, to suggestions of 

 acetylene, '"sable fresh from the furrier's shop," bats and 

 old cigar boxes. Curiously enough, there is a suspicion 

 that the scents which strike human senses as agreeable 

 are of attractive value to the insects, while those which 

 are unpleasant to us are repulsive also to their owners. 

 But in dealing with the senses of insects w'e are working 

 so much in the dark that no conclusion can be other than 

 most tentative. — Detroit News. 



A Missouri farmer received 

 HE WAS LAW- fnun his congressman a pack- 

 ABIDING. •^'.^'^ '^t garden seeds, sent out 



in tlie regular franked envel- 

 ope of the Department of Agriculture, which bears in one 

 corner the warning, "Penalty for private use, three hun- 

 dred dollars." He worried and puzzled over that inscrip- 

 tion for several days, then w-rote to Washington this 

 plaint : 



"Dear Mr. Congressman: I don't want to use those 

 seeds you sent me for the public. I want to plant them 

 in my owm truck garden, but I can't afford the three 

 hundred dollars it says I'll liave to pay for private use. 

 Can't you fix it some way so I can use them for myself? 

 I am a law-abiding citizen and don't want to commit any 

 crime that isn't necessarv." 



DREER'S WATER LILIES 



TROPICAL AND TENDER VARIETIES 



For planting in artiticial pouls. fountains, etc., espe- 

 cially in formal gardens where their large flowers and 

 brilliant colors lend a charm to the scene. When 

 planted under favorable conditions they commence to 

 bloom early in July, and continue until frost, and are 

 suitable for cutting, especially the night-blooming 

 varieties. 



We offer an extended list in our Garden Book and 

 give cultural directions in our Special Water Lily 

 Leaflet, both mailed free, .\dvice of our expert as to 

 plans and varieties, also free. 



HENRY A. DREER, 



"' Philadelphia, Pa> 



THE GERMINATION OF SEEDS. 

 Bv Montague Free. 



The study of some of the factors which accelerate or 

 retard the germination of seeds is of great interest and 

 of vast im])ortance to the gardener. It is well known that 

 the seeds of rnany perennials lie dormant for quite a 

 long time in the soil ; as a matter of fact, I believe the 

 late Sir ^lichael Foster, the great authority on Iris, re- 

 corded a case where Iris seecls remained dormant in the 

 seed pan for ten years before germinating, .^ny method 

 of treatment, therefore, which will hasten the germina- 

 tion of seeds of this character is of great value to the 

 gardener, as not only does it mean the saving of time 

 and space, but also the lessening of the liability of the 

 seeds to destruction by insect and other agencies. 



One of the oldest methods of assisting the gerinina- 

 tion of seeds is by soaking them in water, preferably 

 warm water, before sowing. This practice is especially 

 valuable in the case of legumes, more particularly if the 

 seeds are at all old. By treating the seeds in this manner, 

 moisture is enabled to penetrate the embryo more readily 

 and start the germinative process. There are other 

 methods of treatment having the same object in view, 

 such as the filing of the hard seeds borne by such plants 

 as Canna, P?eonia, etc., and slightly cracking others as in 

 the case of some of the nuts. In both methods care must 

 be employed or there is danger of injuring the embryo 

 and thus preventing germination. 



Recently experiments have been conducted in order to 

 show the effect of immersing seeds for a short period in 

 sulphuric acid before sowing. In every instance, I be- 

 lieve, germination was accelerated by reason of the 

 acid destroying part of the testa and thus allowing mois- 

 ture more readily to reach the embryo. This method of 

 treating seeds may prove to be of value in the case of 

 small seeds possessing a hard shell which cannot be con- 

 veniently dealt with by the filing or cracking process. It 

 is a mode of treatment, how-ever. which will have to be 

 verv carefully employed, as if the seeds are left too long 

 in the acid not only w'ill part of the testa be destroyed, 

 but the embryo as well. 



Manv seeds are greatly retarded in germination if they 

 are kept too long before sowing — the thorough drying 

 which they receive reducing their vitality. For this rea- 

 son it is advisable to sow, or stratify, many seeds as soon 

 as ripe (if at all practicable) particularly some of the 

 hardv perennials. The seeds of Shortia galacifolia if 

 sown as soon as ripe, germinate in a few weeks, but if 

 left until the following Spring before they are sown they 

 may remain dormant a twelvemonth or not germinate 

 at all. 



In the case of some plants which in their natural habi- 

 tats are subjected to a freezing process in winter, the 

 seeds seem to germinate not nearly as well unless they 

 are kept for a considerable period in a low temperature 

 — the inference being that a low temperature is necessary 

 to bring about those chemical changes in the seed essen- 

 tial to germination. Particularly is this so in regard to 

 .some of the higher .\lpine plants. In England, where 

 this class of plants is grown to a far greater extent than 

 is the case in this country, I have seen the following 

 course of treatment adopted with good results: 



The seeds are sown in pots in early winter, then 

 placed in a frame and the frame filled with snow. The 

 sash is then iilaced on and the frame covered with mats 

 in order to retard the melting of the snow for as long a 

 period as possible. When the snow has mcltetl the pots 

 are brought into a slightly heated greenhouse and the 

 seeds as a rule germinate readily. It is not suggested 

 that the snow has any effect, except in so far as it keeps 



