110 Principles of Plant Culture. 



Seeds are shorter-lived in warm than in cooler cli- 

 mates. 



The most satisfactory method of preserving seeds in 

 quantity is to inclose them in bags of rather loose tex- 

 ture and of moderate size, and to store them in a cool, 

 dry and airy place. 



167. Age of Seed as Affecting the resulting Crop. 

 Seeds grown the same or the preceding season produce, 

 as a rule, more vigorous plants than older seeds. They 

 may not, however, in all cases produce plants that are 

 most productive of fruit or seed, for excessive vigor is 

 generally opposed to reproduction. Cucumber and 

 melon plants grown from seed three or four years old 

 are often more fruitful than those from fresh seeds. 

 In crops grown for parts other than fruit or seed, fresh 

 seeds are undoubtedly preferable, but in crops grown 

 for seed or fruit, fresh seed may not always give as 

 large returns as seed of some age. This subject needs 

 further investigation. 



168. How Drying Affects the Vitality of Seeds. 

 The vigor of seeds is probably never increased by dry- 

 ing them, but the seeds of most annual and biennial 

 plants may become air-dry without material loss of 

 vitality. The seeds of many shrubs and trees, however, 

 lose vitality rapidly by such drying and those of some 

 species are destroyed by it. In nature, seeds of the 

 latter class are usually dropped from the parent plant 

 before becoming dry and are soon covered by leaves or 

 other litter that keeps them moist. Nurserymen either 

 plant such seeds as scon as they are ripe, or if of spe- 



