62 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



at its level, was frequently submerged by its freshets. 

 Not kuowing how to occupy the space he sowed, for 

 want of better, some Persicaria (Polygonum Persi- 

 caria), and thought no more about it. 



The following year, in 1818, he thought he could 

 make better use of this portion of his garden by 

 planting it in Provence reeds (Arundo donax,) which 

 he obtained from PerpignaiL This strong growing 

 graas made rapid development, and in less than three 

 years formed a continual barrier, in the thickness of 

 which the river daring its overflows deposited a large 

 quantity of mud, which gradually raised the level of 

 the bed. The reeds, each.year deeper buried by these 

 deposits, followed the ascent of the soil, by prolong- 

 ing little by Httle their rhizomes by the upper part. 

 In the mouth of February last, M. Sarrail had this 

 plantation destroyed; the rhizomes of the Arundo, 

 which then formed three superposed beds, the lowest 

 being nearly reduced to mold, were dug out of the 

 soil, and the underlying earth transferred for compost 

 to the bed immediately above. What was liis aston- 

 ishment, when two or three months afterward, he 

 saw this bed as well as the excavation whence the 

 earth had been taken, cover itself with an abundant 

 crop of Persicarias! He then recollected the seeds 

 which he had sown 35 years before, and as at the 

 same time he read from our journal, the analogous 

 observation of M. Tkoohu, he could not doubt but 

 that these plants came from the seeds sown by him 

 at that time, and which were preserved unhurt under 

 the thick bed of mud which the reeds had stopped 

 on the way, and which had sohdified in the net work 

 of their root stocks. 



Here, as well as in the instance reported by M. 

 Trochu, it is to their burial in the soil, at such a 

 depth that the atmospheric influence could not reach 

 them, that the seeds owed the preservation of their 

 germinative power during so long a period of years. 

 Tlie result would have been veiy dift'ereut if, in .place 

 of being covered, they had been kept in an apartment 

 as seeds which we destine for sowing generally are, 

 because then the alternations of cold and heat, of 

 dryne.ss and humidity, and especially the prolonged 

 contact with the air, would have developed in them a 

 fermentation incompatible with their vitality. This 

 is a fact of daily experience, and one which gardeners 

 have but too much occasion to observe; every one 

 knows that seeds have less chance to grow the older 

 they are; there is, however, a marked difference in 

 this respect in different species. 



The other observation of which we have to speak, 

 and which is due to "SL Micheli, is a new proof of 

 the rapidity with which seeds, not sheltered from 

 atmospheric influences, are deprived of life. Having 

 read the notice of M. Trochu, he conceived the idea 

 of experimenting on old seeds Avhose age he knew 

 exactly, and of agi-eat number of species. He made 

 a sowing in the open ground, during last spring; but 

 a very few plants came up; those were Cyiwij^lossum 

 linifoliiun, Chrt/santhemuin carinatum, Coreopsis 

 deversifolia, Escholtzia calijornica, of which the 

 seeds were gathered in 1846; Convolvulus tricolor, 

 Hibiscus trionum and Ipomaa purpurea, which were 

 two years older; in the case of a single species, the 

 Malope grandiflora, the date went back to 1840, 

 that is, they were twelve years old, 



These results conform entirely to those which have 

 been obtained in England; a liberal society which is 

 instituted in that country for the progress of science, 

 and which is called the British Association for the 

 advancement of science, has appointed a commission 

 to study specially this interesting question of the 

 longevity of seeds. In one of its latest sittings, it 

 received from Dr. Lankester, the chairman of this 

 committee, the report of the twelfth experiment on 

 this subject. The experiment was tried with seeds 

 gathered in 1844, a part of which were sown in 1850 

 and 1851. The result has been the rapid diminution 

 of the number of germinating seeds, as they became 

 older, a result which must be expected after all that 

 we know on the subject; the question, therefore, can 

 be considered as settled, at least in a general manner. 



At this same meeting of the scientific society just 

 mentioned, there was again mention made of those 

 famous seeds of Raspberries found in a Celtic sarco- 

 phagus, which have been sown with success, and of 

 which we informed our readers. In England, as in 

 France, this extraordinary fact has found many dis- 

 believers; but new investigations have been made, 

 with much care, during last year, and they have tended 

 to confirm it. Among other witnesses still living, we 

 may mention Dr. Eoyle, the celebrated botanist, who 

 had for a long time the direction of the garden of 

 acclimation of Calcutta; he has asserted that he waa 

 present when the brown matter containing the seeds, 

 and which had been collected in the remains of the skel- 

 eton, was presented to Dr. Lixdlev, and has further 

 declared that he had no doubt of the truth of what 

 has been said of the germination of seed.> preserved 

 under the ground for ages. 



The deep burial of seeds, therefore, w,^ repeat is 

 the true and probably the only means t)r preserving 

 their vitality for any indefinite leiigih of time. AVe 

 should have been happy, at this time, if our ancestors 

 of some centuries ago had thought of keeping in re- 

 serve for us, in this manner, some seeds on wiiieh we 

 could experiment. They did not do it, nor could 

 they, because the minds of that day were not turned 

 towards that kind of observations. But why do not 

 we, whom scientific questions interest to so high a 

 degree, prepare this exjieriment for our ddscendanta? 

 This will be an act of foresight for which they will 

 thank us, and who knows? perhaps which will be a 

 means of transmitting our names to the most distant 

 generations. But the age is so selfish, so strongly ' 

 preoccupied with the enjoyment of the present, that 

 we scarcely hope to see it seize upon our idea to pat 

 in execution. Naudin. 



Choice Fruits. — The editor of the Horticultural 

 Department of this paper would be obliged to the 

 6ul}scribers of the Farmer who may have fine speci- 

 mens of the different varieties of apples grown in our 

 country, if they will send him a few from time to 

 time, for comparison. If they should be accompa- 

 nied with accounts of the kind of soil in ivhich they 

 were grown, and the manner of culture, many inter- 

 esting facta would thus be brought out of importance. 

 Let them be left at the Genesee Farmer office. J. . 



Chaeitt begins at home, but should not end there. ' 



