56 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



Carpiiuts betulus tests above described not a single germination took 

 place during the 3 months of November, December and January. It 

 is noted that the atmosphere of the laboratory was particularly poor 

 in oxygen at this season while daylight and air electricity are weakest 

 during this period. It has been found in practice that ash and horn- 

 beam seeds tolerate only a very shallow soil covering. This can be 

 explained on the grounds of oxygen and light requirement. 



Duvernoy's studies of the seed of Colchicum autumnale and Arum 

 maculatum are briefly referred to.^* 



In the before-described tests some of the sprouted plantlets appeared 

 not to have grown out but to have been thrown out of the seed shell, 

 the empty coat being found several millimeters away. 



The writer's tests being carried out between moist filter paper in a 

 poorly lighted and aerated germinating chamber may have increased 

 the delay. Kinzel ^^ has obtained as high as 40 per cent germination 

 of ash seed in lighted petri dishes. He (Kinzel) was unable to hasten 

 germination by freezing the seeds, which in a moist soaked condition 

 are very sensitive to lowering of temperature. 



To find out whether ash seed which had wintered in the open would 

 sprout more quickly than that which was gathered in the fall, the 

 writer tested samples of seed which was taken from the tree the spring 

 after ripening, and also of seed which was gathered from the ground 

 in June after overwintering in that position. 



The seed overwintering on the tree required 5j4 years to complete 

 germination, giving a final record of 8 per cent, the other 92 per cent 

 having decayed. 



The seed which over-wintered on the ground required 7^4 years to 

 complete the germination which finally reached 20 per cent, the remain- 

 ing 80 per cent having decayed. Again, no germination occurred dur- 

 ing the test in the months of November, December, and January. 

 Decay proceeded much more rapidly with the seed taken from the 

 ground, in spite of the better germination of that sample. This leads 

 the writer to conclude that these seeds were exposed for some time to 

 infection while lying on the ground. The poorer germinative capacity 

 of the seeds wintering over upon the tree is thought to be due to 

 immaturity. 



It is evident, therefore, that allowing the ash seed to over-winter in 

 the open does not shorten the "seed rest." This agrees with Lakon's *" 

 investigation who found no difiference in the material composition of 



