REPORT ON SEEDS FROM INDIA. 95 



seeds, it is to be regretted that there is not a better acquaintance with 

 the conditions under which seeds' from such distant countries can be 

 certainly and surely transmitted. Only the possible immunity from the 

 changes of climate and of the atmosphere by the use of closely sealed 

 vessels, or the packing in charcoal, can give much promise of facility in 

 rearing from seeds vigorous plants. In the present instance it will be 

 well for the Flower Committee, in the distribution of these East India 

 seeds, to recommend the use of bottom heat by hotbed or flues for 

 germination: although in instances of seeds from Australia I have 

 known perhaps one-third of the kinds sent to germinate and grow. 

 The ligneous and the oily seeds of trees of tropical countries, perhaps, 

 suffer the most, and oftentimes the fruitless efforts to cultivate them 

 discourages attempts towards experiment in a multitude of instances 

 where, perhaps, some success might ensue. 



Respectfully submitted by 



JOHN L. RUSSELL, 



Prof. BoL, cfcc, to Mass. Hort. Society. 



Salem, December 24, 1868. 



