IMPORTANCE OF GOOD SEEDS. 7 



quantities of amylum, gluten, and inorganic matters which 

 they severally contain, will produce a crop of plants as 

 unequal in their developement as the original seeds from 

 which tliey sprung. 



The strength and number of the roots and leaves formed 

 in the process of germination are (as regards the non- 

 nitrogenous constituents) in direct proportion to the 

 amount of amylum in the original seed. A seed poor 

 in amylum will, indeed, germinate in the same fashion as 

 another seed abounding in it ; but by the time the former 

 has succeeded, by the absorption of food from without, in 

 producing roots and leaves as strong and numerous, the 

 plant gro^\m fi-om the more amylaceous seed is again just 

 as much more advanced in growth : its food-absorbing 

 surface was larger from the beginning, and the growth of 

 the young plant is in like proportion. 



Poor and sickly seeds will produce stunted plants, 

 which again will yield seeds bearing in a great measure 

 the same character. 



The liorticulturist knows the natural relation which the 

 condition of the seed bears to the production of a plant, 

 which is to possess all or only some properties of the 

 species : just as the cattle-breeder, who, with a view to pro- 

 pagation and increase of stock, selects only the healthiest 

 and l)est-formed animals for his purpose ; the gardener 

 is aware that tlie ilat and shining seeds in the pod of a 

 stock gilly-flower will give tall plants with single flowers, 

 while the shrivelled seeds will furnish low plants with 

 double flowers throughout. 



Tlie influence of soil and climate gives rise to diflerent 

 varieties .of plants, which, hke races, are possessed of 

 certain peculiarities, and are propagated by means of seed, 

 as long as the conditions remain the same. Planted in 

 another soil, or in a diflerent cHmate, the new variety will 



