824 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



written for the different genera and extended so as to include the many 

 heretofore undescribed species. 



J. W. T. 



Philippine Dipterocarpacece. The Philippine Journal of Science, Vol. XIII, 

 Sec. C, No. 3, May, 1918, p. 163. 



The repeated faikires of direct sowings of 

 Germination Cupressus tortulosa in India led to a series of 

 of experimental sowings by Bhola, carried out at 



Cupressus Pauri (elevation about 6,000 feet), in the mon- 



torulosa soon rains of 191 7. The seeds were sown in pots 



Seed after being subjected to the following four sepa- 



rate processes : 



1. Soaking the seed in water for 24 hours before sowing. 



2. Mixing the seed with cow-dung 24 hours before sowing. 



3. Sowing without subjecting the seed to any process. 



4. Keeping the seed for 3 minutes in boiling hot water before sowing. 

 All the pots were kept under similar conditions in the open, exposed 



fully to the effects of rain and sun. 



The results obtained are tabulated below : 



Number of days required Percentage of 



Process for germination germination 



1 12 69 



2 10 ^ 



3 12 70 



4 IS 2 



It appears from the above that processes i and 2 had but little effect 

 upon germination as compared with sowings without previous, treat- 

 ment of the seed. On the other hand, the adverse effect of boiling hot 

 water on the vitality of the seed is apparent. The reviewer's experi- 

 •ence in subjecting various species of tree seeds to boiling water prior 

 to sowing have given similar disastrous results. The viability of all 

 species of tree seeds suffers from boiling hot water when the seeds are 

 submerged in it over-long. How long they will survive depends upon 

 the character of the coverings over the seed and the size and character 

 of the seed itself. The seeds of the honey locust and the Kentucky 

 coffee tree are killed when placed in boiling water for a period of 3 to 5 

 minutes, although germination is accelerated when the seeds are sub- 

 merged in water but a few degrees below the boiling point until they 

 have swollen to two or three times their normal size. 



At the same time that the Cupressus seeds were sown in pots (at the 

 beginning of the monsoon rains) seeds were sown in nursery beds and 



