140 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
It will be seen that in each of the four tests applied, the results 
come out in favour of the large seed. In the first place, it is 
interesting to note that in one case the hundred large acorns 
have produced 109 three-year-old plants, which shows that a very 
considerable proportion of large acorns contain more than one 
seed, As a matter of fact, the ovary of the oak contains six 
ovules, and the fruit is therefore potentially capable of containing 
six seeds, but, as a rule, only one of the ovules develops into a 
seed, though, as the above figures show, the case where an acorn 
holds two seeds is not so rare as is usually supposed. At the 
lowest computation, 9 per cent. of the “ B.” series of large acorns 
have been double-seeded ; but as it is fair to assume, firstly, that 
all the acorns did not germinate, and, secondly, that some of the 
plants succumbed to various influences during the three years of 
growth, the actual percentage of double-seeded acorns is no doubt 
even larger than the figures indicate. 
The size of the acorns has apparently affected the length of 
stem more than the length of root, though this may be more 
apparent than real, owing to the difficulty of getting long roots 
out of the ground entire. 
Four average plants produced by the four sizes of acorns are 
represented in Fig. 4, which shows the gradual reduction in 
vigour of the plants as a consequence of the reduced size of 
the seed. 
Although it is unquestionable that a much larger number of 
plants will be got by sowing, say, a stone of small seed than by 
using a similar weight of large seed, it is more than likely that 
the large seed will prove the more profitable in the end. 
Although this experiment furnishes no definite information 
regarding the final results at the end of fifty or one hundred years, 
it is extremely probable that, under similar conditions of soil, 
exposure, etc., the plants that were strongest at three years of 
age will provide the largest and most valuable timber trees. It 
would appear, however, to be more necessary to be careful in the 
selection of large seed, and therefore of vigorous plants, for the 
stocking of a mixed than of a pure wood. Suppose that, in the 
former case, young oaks are introduced at intervals of 20 feet or 
so, with the object of leaving them to form the final crop after 
the nurses, or thinnings, have been removed, In this case it is 
the manifest intention of the forester that every oak which 
he plants shall stand till the end of the rotation, and if—as 
