46 EXPERIMENTS WITH PLANTS 



by mail without any other protection than a paper oag 

 enclosed in a cloth bag or wrapping. 



In general, a cool dry place is best for keeping 

 seeds. Some kinds of seeds should not be thoroughly 

 dried. Hard, bony seeds, such as nuts, seeds of 

 forest trees, etc., are most successfully preserved by 

 burying them in earth. A layer of sand is placed on 

 the bottom of a box, then a layer of seeds, another 

 of sand, and so on. The boxes are then buried (one 

 or two feet deep) for the winter, or they are placed 

 in a shed and covered a foot deep with straw. This 

 method closely imitates natural conditions. Freezing 

 is supposed to be beneficial, though not absolutely 

 necessary; it probably helps to crack the nuts and so 

 assists germination. 



What seeds germinate most quickly when favorable 

 conditions come ? What plants come up first from seed 

 out-of-doors when the season for germination comes? 

 Is quick germination an advantage ? Why ? In making 

 a lawn, what usually comes up first, the grass or 

 the weeds ? Does this help to explain the success of 

 the weeds in the struggle for light and for space above 

 ground and below? 



Quick germination may possibly be a disadvantage 

 if the first rains are succeeded by long periods of dry 

 weather so that the seed which has sprouted dries out 

 again. Will the seed die if allowed to dry up after 

 it has sprouted? Allow some seeds to sprout until 



