22 



THE APPLE L'ULTUMIST. 



Fig. 2. 



of moisture must reach the germ. If the 

 external coating of the seed has been al- 

 lowed to become very dry and hard, seeds 

 will often remain in the soil, if planted in 

 the spring, until the next spring, before the 

 tough shell will permit moisture to quick- 

 en the germ. When apple, locust, and oth- 

 er seeds have become dry, Fig. 3. 

 let them be thrown for ten 

 seconds or so into boiling 

 water, then turned quickly 

 into cold water, repeating 

 the process twice or thrice, 

 until the hard shell is soft- 



ipple-tree in 



the seed-leaf. ened, and the seed will ger- 

 minate in a few days after they are planted. 

 By a short and quick scald, and sudden cool- 

 ing, the heat does not have time to reach 

 the germ. But let me caution every be- 

 ginner against the mistake that a celebrated 

 agricultural editor once made in boiling his 

 seeds for several hours, to soften the hard 



A diminished view of 



shells. The shells 01 chestnuts, butternuts, a young apple-tree 



after a few inc 



and other nuts, as well as peach and plum 

 pits, are so impervious to water, that moist- 

 ure can not reach the germs. Hence the necessity of soak- 

 ing a long time, and exposing these to the action of frost, 

 in damp mould, or sand, so that the glue which unites the 

 two parts of a shell may be dissolved, thus permitting the 

 moisture to reach the embryo or germs. 



Another indispensable requisite is heat in connection with 

 moisture. Gentle warmth alone can not produce germina- 

 tion ; neither can moisture alone cause a seed to germinate. 

 The two moisture and heat must exist in a proper de- 



after a few inches 

 in length of the 

 plumule have ap- 

 peared. 



