QUANTITY PRODUCTION 279 



few practical hints as to various aspects of the 

 subject. Thus summarized, the lessons learned 

 in the hard school of experience may enable the 

 reader to avoid some pitfalls and to make certain 

 experimental short cuts. 



KEEPING SEEDS OVER WINTER 



To begin at the beginning, let us note that the 

 preservation of seeds over winter calls for care- 

 ful attention. 



All fruit seeds except those of apricots and 

 almonds, when removed from the fruit, are at 

 once placed in slightly moist, coarse sand or fine 

 gravel or in sterilized sawdust. 



In warm climates the boxes containing the 

 seeds are then buried on the shady side of a 

 building or tree where they will become neither 

 too dry nor too wet. The object is to keep the 

 kernels as nearly as possible in their original 

 condition. 



If tree seeds, especially those of the cherry, 

 the pear, and the plum once become thoroughly 

 dry, it is difficult, and in some cases impos- 

 sible, to induce them to germinate. An im- 

 portant function of the pulp of these fruits, 

 in the original wild state, was, presumably, 

 to keep the seeds moist until the season for 

 germination. 



