NOTES ON THE IMPORTANCE OP TREE SEED-TESTING. 283 



(maximum 0*19 oz.). The lowest weight has been CH4 oz., 

 for a sample of Finnish seed. 



Also Pinus montana uncinata appears from the Tables to 

 have the same property ; the French seed from Briangon, in the 

 Haute Alpes, is much larger than what has been grown on the 

 Danish heaths. 



Also larch seed gets smaller the higher in the mountains it 

 is grown. Dr Cieslar, in his above-quoted paper, gives 0'18 oz. 

 per 1000 for seed grown 3500 feet above the sea as the lowest 

 weight, and 0*25 oz. as the highest weight from 2900 feet above 

 the sea. My tests show an average weight of - 21 oz. for 

 nineteen lots of seed from the Tyrolese and Swiss Alps, and 

 0*19 oz. for three lots of seed of Silesian origin. 



By and by, when it, as may be hoped, will be understood how 

 great an influence the origin of the seed has on the future trees, 

 the importance of the figures will be evident to all practical 

 foresters and honest seed merchants. 



Numerous experiments have shown that the spruce raised from 

 seed from Finland grows too slowly in the insular climate of 

 Denmark and in the central European lowlands, at any rate 

 while it is young; while, on the other hand, the spruce from 

 the central European lowlands will not thrive far north. 

 German Scotch fir does not thrive in Denmark, Scandinavia, and 

 Finland, and its cultivation has not given good results in the 

 Baltic provinces, 1 while trees from Scottish-grown seed seem to 

 have the greatest power of resistance in the stormy climate of 

 Jutland. Cieslar 2 further points out that the spruce and larch 

 from high elevations do not thrive well in the lowlands, while, 

 on the other hand, the lowland spruce cannot thrive in the high- 

 lands, and finally, that the Scandinavian Scotch fir grows consider- 

 ably slower in the Austrian lowlands than their own native fir. 



All this ought to make it clear to every one how important 

 it is, by the aid of seed-testing, to be able to secure seed from the 

 places that are likely to be most serviceable. 



Exactly the same difference in the size of the seed, according 

 to the place of origin, seems to assert itself on the great areas of 

 North America. 



1 M. v. Sievers, "Ueber die Vererbuug von Wucbsieblern \m Pinus 

 sylvestris, L," Mittheilungen der Deutschen Dendrologischm Gcscllschaft, 1895. 



8 Dr Adolf Cieslar, "Ncues aus dem Gebiete der forstlichen Zuchtwahl," 

 Centralblatt filr das gesammte Forstwesert, 1899, parts ii. and iii. 



