Ua7 1, 18M. ] 



JOtTRNAL OP HOBTICULTtmE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



321 



SEEDS, AND ^^'^AT TO DO \\'ITH THEM.— No. 1. 



WIDE subject is this, and one 

 of sufficient importance to 

 UTite a volume upon if full 

 justice had to be done to 

 everythiug : but the object of 

 the present paper is merely 

 to offer some remarks on the seeds which most commonly 

 come before us, and such as chiim special notice either 

 from tlieu' character or the peculiar conditions necessary to 

 insure their germination. Commencing vdih the Grasses, 

 let us examine them before we determine on the mode of 

 committing their seeds to the gi-ound. 



Grasses are amongst the most useful and widely dis- 

 tributed of all the families of plants, aftbrding food to 

 both man and the most valuable animals : and as they 

 produce seeds in abundance, the multiplication of an in- 

 diWdual species when wanted is oulj' difficult or other- 

 wise according to the skill used in cultivation. As treatise 

 after treatise lias been ^^^•ittcn ou the culture of such cereals 

 as we depend on for our sustenance, the conditions under 

 which the more common Grasses are generally met with 

 need only be glanced at, in order to see how far these con- 

 ditions agree wdth the mode of cultivation wliich we adopt 

 when we want to increase the number of any particular 

 species. Grasses, it is well known, produce seeds in great 

 abundance, which ripen about the time that the hay crop is 

 cut, or rather later, for it is seldom allowed to remain uncut 

 until the Grass seeds aj-e ripe. The seeds remain a longer 

 period attached to the husk or stem that supports them 

 than those of many other plants ; eventuallj', however, they 

 are shed, and the clmnces are very remote of theh faUing 

 upon such a prepared seed-bed as is often made for them 

 when thej- are sown artificially. Most commonly the seeds 

 fall by the side of the plant, and if tins is growing in a 

 pasture field the ground is dry. hard, and already occupied 

 ^vith Grass ; or if by the side of a road, the place is often as 

 hard as a macadamised turnpike. Neither of these con- 

 ditions, however, prevents the seed vegetating when the 

 proper time arrives, wliich is usually September, after the 

 early autumn ijpins have soaked the seed, and given it that 

 impulse which it follows up : hence we have the best pos- 

 sible time pointed out to us by Nature for makiug a fer- 

 manent sward, and by sowing the seeds in the last week 

 in August or first ia September the best residts are likely 

 to follow. If any one be sceptical on this point, let him 

 only notice the innumerable plants of Grass that will often 

 make their appearance in tlie early autumn months in 

 walks and other hard places not too much trodden upon. 

 The progress of such little plants is certainly not rapid 

 at tliis time, but they survive the winter, and are ready 

 to start into growth early in spiing ; in fact, if the 

 No. 266.— Vol. X., Net Sebibf. 



winter is mUd, they never cease growing. If, instead of 

 sowing Grass seeds in autumn, tliej- be sown in spring, the 

 result will not be so satisfactor}- ; for, though a great many 

 will gi-ow, the proportion will not be nearly so large as 

 when the}- are sown at the time which Nature points out — 

 viz., early in autumn. 



Many seeds possess a coating of some substance designed 

 to protect them whilst in an inert state, from the time they 

 become detached from the plant until they commence to 

 vegetate. Gum, oil, and resin form a covering to a large 

 number of seeds, and these substances preserve the seed 

 until it is required to grow ; for, unlike the Grasses, many 

 of the seeds so protected require a considerable time to un- 

 dergo the changes that occur before germination fauiy com- 

 mences. Some remain in the gi'ound a considerable time, 

 while others swell and commence gi-osving very soon after 

 being committed to the ground. Of the latter, those cased 

 over with an oUy substance seem to germinate soonest, as 

 in the Cabbage tribe and its allies ; resinous seeds, as those 

 of the Conifeiie, requu'e more time, contact with mother 

 earth in their case not efiecting the change so speedily as 

 with those previously mentioned ; but it is accomplished, 

 the agencies at work in the soil being generally sufficient 

 to fi'ee the young plant from its resinous covering. I may 

 here remark that there is every likelihood that the soil 

 best adapted to the growtli of a plant is also that best 

 calculated to insure the proper germination of the seed ; 

 for such soils, doubtless, ofier the natural conditions most fa- 

 voui-able to such a result being brought about in the shortest 

 space of time. Seeds of leguminous plants present gi'eat 

 diversity, some of them having but httle external covering 

 to hinder germination, while others — some Australian seeds, 

 for instance — are cased in an armour of gum. which re- 

 quires more than ordinary artificial help to enable the 

 embryo plant to make its appearance. Such seeds are 

 therefore often soaked in warm water, which removes a 

 gi-eat part of the gum, and leaves the remainder so reduced 

 as to allow the plant access to the cuter world. The arti- 

 ficial means here advised ought not to be resorted to if it 

 can he dispensed -ivith, as it is an operation not intended 

 by Nature, hut merely one artificial process adopted to 

 cm-rect another, these seeds being of foreign not indigenous 

 gi'owth, and having been brought man}' thousands of miles 

 under conditions never occurring in nature. In consequence 

 of tliis the gummy substance hardens into a sort of case, 

 impenetrable to the influences at work in the soil in an 

 ordinary state : hence the necessity of using extraordinary 

 means. 



Besides the above there are many other ways in which 

 seeds are preserved until the proper time for their germi- 

 nation. Some seeds are embedded in a pulpy substance 

 destined to protect them uutU the proper period for the 

 commencement of gi'owth arrives, and of such Goosebenies, 

 Ciu-rants, Strawberries, Tomatoes, &c., afibrd examples. 

 Seeds of this character shoidd always he presen'ed when 

 practicable with the pulp adhering, as they are deprived of 

 the most important part of their keeping quaUties when it 

 is removed. Tlii.s section embraces man}' kinds of plants 

 in general use, and flliich are often propagated by other 



No. 918.— Vol. XXXV., Ou) Sebiis. 



