100 MASSACHUSETTS BORTICULTITRAL SOCIETY 



This is the case with most hard-coated seeds. If one does not 

 know how long it takes seeds to germinate it is well to hold over the 

 seed boxes for at least one j^ear. Many seeds lose their vitality if 

 kept dry for any length of time. If it does not matter when seeds 

 germinate so long as they do so it is just as well to sow them as 

 soon as ripe. It may explain some previous failures and it some- 

 times happens that a year's time is gained. 



The Japanese Barberry, if held over and the seeds get dry, they 

 are likely or the greater part of them, to lay over still another year, 

 and the same with Rose seeds ; but if sown in the open with merely 

 a cover of litter added to keep them from being thrown on the 

 surface by frost, otherwise called "heaving," about all of them will 

 be up in spring. This is where freezing helps. 



When it is known how long it takes for seeds to germinate the 

 time can be regulated. Some tree and shrub seeds germinate 

 within a few weeks, sometimes in a few days, after sowing and these 

 seeds can be held from autumn until spring. Most Pines, Spruces, 

 Firs, Thuyas, and Chamaecyparis may be sown in spring and 

 come up soon afterwards. Elms ripen early in the spring and come 

 up in early summer. Some shrub seeds such as Deutzias, Spiraeas, 

 Lilacs, Buddleias, and Philadelphus also come up quickly. Bud- 

 dleia variabilis, known as the Summer Lilac, sown indoors last 

 March, grew six feet before September, with flower stems four feet 

 long. This achievement certainly puts this handsome Chinese 

 sub-shrub in an impressive light. 



As a rule berried and nut seeds lay over a year. Some of them 

 as soon as ripe, and some as in the case of Cotoneaster Dielsiana 

 and Magnolia stellata, may come up the following spring, or only 

 a part of them may germinate; or they can be stratified until 

 spring, one or two years as need be, which means that the seeds 

 may be laid away in moist earth or sand and sown when it is 

 expected they will germinate. This is done by nurserymen and 

 others who value space. 



I prefer to sow seeds that lay over as soon as ripe. Some will 

 come up the first year and first year seedlings are usually the 

 strongest and are worth taking note of by the plant breeder. Gar- 

 deners generally are agreed that the first seedlings of florists' flowers 

 are usually the strongest and also the poorest in floral quality and 



