DIRECT SOWINGS. 239 



opened, if large enough, with a penknife, and exam- 

 ined ; the kernel ought to completely fill the cavity 

 of the shell, it should be white (except in the ash, in 

 which it is bluish, and in the maple, in which it is 

 green), and moist, and the plumule should be entire. 

 If the seeds are small, they ought, on being crushed 

 with the nail, to leave traces of moisture more or 

 less milky, and in the case of conifer seeds, to emit 

 the odour of turpentine. The weight also furnishes 

 an indication for the quantity of seed to be employed ; 

 but nothing beyond the average weight can be given. 

 This has been already done. In sowing by weight, 

 the seeds, if small, should be examined, to see if no 

 dust is mixed up with them ; for this purpose it is 

 well to stir them about before weighing. 



As the Scotch pine is frequently used, it is neces- 

 sary to be on one's guard against a fraud often 

 practised in commerce, which consists in adulter- 

 ating it with spruce fir seeds dyed black. The only 

 sure method of detecting it is by sowing a sufficiently 

 large quantity of the seeds ; the young Scotch pine 

 has five or six cotyledonary leaves and a reddish stalk, 

 the spruce fir a yellowish stalk and eight or nine 

 cotyledonary leaves. This precaution is all the more 

 necessary because the pine is generally raised as a 

 transitory crop to restore deteriorated soils or to 

 introduce, later on, under its shelter, some delicate 

 species which could not be grown in the open. 



If two-thirds of the seeds are good, the whole lot 

 may be considered as of good quality. 



The quantity of seed to be used depends also on 

 the way in which the ground has been cultivated. 

 It is evident that, proportionately more seed is 



