68 THE AMERICAN GARDENER. [Chap. 



insects there ? That it was not destroyed in coming 

 up, or in germinating ? 



132. There are, however, means of ascertaining, 

 whether seed be sound, or not, before you sow it in 

 the ground. I know of no seed, which, if sound 

 and really good, will not sink in water. The un- 

 soundness of seed arises from several causes. Un- 

 ripeness, blight, mouldine-ss, and age, are the most 

 frequent of these causes. The two first, if exces- 

 sive, prevent the seed from ever having the germi- 

 nating quality in them. Mouldiness arises from the 

 seed being kept in a damp place, or from its having 

 heated. When dried again it becomes light. Age 

 will cause the germinating quality to evaporate ; 

 though, where there is a great proportion of oil in 

 the seed, this quality will remain in it many years, 

 as will be seen in paragraph 150. 



133. The way to try seed is this. Put a small 

 quantity of it in luke-warm water, and let the wa- 

 ter be four or five inches deep. A mug, or basin, 

 will do, but a large tumbler glass is best; for then 

 you can see the bottom as well as top. Some seeds, 

 such as those of cabbage, radish, and turnip, will, 

 if good, go to the bottom at once. Cucumber, Me- 

 lon, Lettuce, Endive, and many others, require a 

 few minutes. Parsnip and Carrot, and all the 

 winged seeds, require to be worked by your fingers 

 in a little water, and well wetted, before you put 

 them into the glass ; and the carrot should be rubbed, 

 so as to get off part of the hairs, which would other- 

 wise act as the feathers do as to a duck. The seed 

 of Beet and Mangel Wurzel are in a case, or shell. 

 The rough things that we sow are not the seeds, but 

 the cases in which the seeds are contained, each 

 case containing from one to Jive seeds. Therefore 

 the trial by water is not, is to these two seeds, coil' 



