THE WHEAT CULTURIST. 241 



Professor Lindley says : " There are many cases on 

 record which establish conclusively that, under favor- 

 able conditions, the vitality of seeds may be preserved 

 for indefinite periods. ' Not to speak of the doubtful 

 instances of seeds taken from the Pyramids having 

 germinated,' melons have been known to grow at the 

 age of forty years ; kidney beans at a hundred ; sensi- 

 tive plant at sixty ; rye at forty; and there are now liv- 

 ing in the garden of the Horticultural Society raspberry 

 plants raised from seeds 1,600 or 1,700 years old. 



" The seeds of charlock buried in former ages spring 

 up in railway cuttings ; where ancient forests are de- 

 stroyed, plants appear which had never been seen before, 

 but whose seeds have been buried in the ground. When 

 some land was recovered from the Baltic Sea, a carex 

 was found upon it, now unknown in that part of Europe. 

 M. Fries, of Upsala, succeeded in growing a species of 

 Hieracium from seeds which had been in his herbarium 

 upward of fifty years. Desmoulins has recorded an 

 instance of the opening of ancient tombs, in which 

 seeds were found ; and on being planted they produced 

 species of scabiosa and heliotropium." 



A Reliable Rule. 



Seeds and grain often lose their vitality ; and we 



cannot determine by the external appearance of a seed 



or kernel of grain, whether its vitality is gone, or not. 



It is, therefore, always wise to keep on the safe side, by 



sowing wheat that has not been kept over more than 



one winter. Wheat that is sown in autumn, should 



not be the product of the previous year ; but grain that 



grew the same season. Spring wheat should be the pro- 



11 



