282 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



cent. ; Cryptomeria japonica, 15 "20 per cent. ; Thuja Standishii, 

 9*40 per cent. ; Tsuga Sieboldi, 0*44 per cent. — are all from the 

 tests of the spring 1900. Of Abies brachyphylla I have had two 

 tests carried out, one in the spring of 1889 and another in the 

 spring of 1900, and the result is a minimum Real Value of 5"90 

 per cent, and a maximum of 6*73 per cent. I should like to 

 know if this is normal. I suppose the experiments of a longer 

 series of years are necessary to decide this. 



Influence of the Locality on the Size of Seeds. 



In looking through the column for the weight of 1000 fresh 

 seeds, one cannot avoid noticing the very great difference in the 

 size of the seed of the same species from different localities, and 

 it will then be seen that the size of the seed has a direct relation- 

 ship to the locality where it is produced. German-Tyrolese and 

 Danish sprues seed is, on an average, about twice as heavy as 

 the Scandinavian-Finnish spruce seed. The highest weight I 

 have found for 1000 fresh seeds of spruce is 0-34 oz., and the 

 lowest - 14 oz. The former came from the centre of Europe, 

 and the latter from the north of Norway, within the limits of the 

 Arctic Circle. 



Exactly the same difference in the weight of spruce seed, 

 according to the latitude in which it is grown, is observable 

 in regard to the height of the locality above sea-level. Of two 

 lots of spruce seed from the Tyrol, of which the first was alleged 

 to have grown about 1800 feet above the sea, and the other from 

 3000 to 3300 feet above the sea, the weight of 1000 fresh seeds 

 was found to be 0'26 oz. and 025 oz. respectively. 



According to Cieslar, 1 the weight of 1000 fresh seeds of spruce 

 can vary between 50 oz. for seed from Carinthia, about 1400 feet 

 above the sea, to 15 oz. for seed from the southern Tyrol, about 

 5000 feet above sea. 



The same will be found to be the case when the results for 

 Pinus sylvesto-is are examined. The Scotch-grown seed has the 

 highest weight — the average weight of eleven tests being - 24 oz. 

 for 1000 fresh seeds (the maximum found here being 0-25 oz.). 

 The average of seven samples from central Europe, Htsse, 

 Bavaria, and Austria, is 21 oz. (maximum 23 oz.), and 

 for the Scandinavian-Finnish seed the average is 0-16 oz. 



1 Dr Adolf Cieslar, "Neues aus dem Gebiete der forstlichen Zuchtwabl," 

 Cmtralblatt fur das gesammte Forstwcsen, 1899, parts ii. and iii. 



