CH. Ill 



COLLECTION OF SEED 



117 



a long pole soon tires the arms of the collector and 

 makes the plucking slower. If the seed is heavy or 

 likely to be injured by its fall, it is best to let it drop 

 into a sheet held up at the corners. 



When bamboo seeds it dies, and the best way of 

 collecting is in cutting down the seed-bearing culms 

 when the seed is ripe. 



When the seed has been collected it should be 

 subjected to a preliminary examination in order to 



Fig. 16. 



Fig. 18. 



reject at once all that is visibly unsound or immature. 

 It is also necessary, in the case of certain species, to 

 give them a preliminary manipulation. Some kinds 

 of seeds will still be enclosed within their capsules and 

 must be extracted, or they are enclosed in fleshy pulp, 

 or they may have wings w T hich take up a lot of un- 

 necessary room. 



As regards those enclosed in dehiscent pods or 

 capsules, a practical way of shelling them is to spread 

 them on a piece of hard smooth ground, or if they are 

 small on a sheet, in the sun, which will soon burst the 



