The Gathering and Storing of Seeds. 107 



no direct relation to the time at which the seeds are set 

 free from the parent plant. Seeds of the tomato will 

 germinate when the fruit is little more than half grown, 

 and those of the pea will germinate when fit for table 

 use. Seeds of the lemon sometimes germinate within 

 the fruit. On the other hand, seeds of the thorn* and 

 juniper rarely germinate until the second spring after 

 their production. Seeds of many annual and biennial 

 plants, as the cereals, cabbage, etc., may germinate as 

 soon as set free by the parent plant, but those of many 

 annual weeds and of most trees and shrubs will not 

 germinate until some months afterward. 



Seeds necessarily gathered immature will often ripen 

 sufficiently for germination if a considerable part of 

 the plant is plucked and cured with them. 



Germinating seeds in which the germination process 

 is stopped by undue drying are not always destroyed. 

 Germination may be resumed on access to water. Seeds 

 of different species differ widely in this respect. Those 

 of the parsnip and carrot cannot endure much drying 

 during germination, while those of the cereals may be 

 repeatedly dried at ordinary temperatures without de- 

 stroying their vitality. 



163. Immature versus Ripe Seeds. Seeds not fully 

 grown lack a part of their normal food supply, and 

 their embryo is probably imperfectly developed. If 

 capable of germination, they rarely produce vigorous 

 plants. As a rule, the most vigorous plants come from 

 fully-matured seeds. Immature seeds, persistently used, 

 may tend to reduced vigor, early maturity, dwarfness 



* Crataegus. 



