66 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 



mon flower-pot, which is plunged in the soil of another, 

 one or two sizes larger, and a third pot, filled with earth, 

 of the size of the first is placed within the second. If 

 the soil of the two pots is kept damp, the seed, if good, 

 will germinate, and can, from time to time, be conveni- 

 ently examined. By thus testing his seed, the gardener 

 may ascertain the percentage, sure, under proper man- 

 agement, to come up, and may regulate his sowing ac- 

 cordingly. 



If seeds are to be preserved and retain their proper 

 vitality, it is indispensable that they should be com- 

 pletely ripe, and be kept perfectly dry. They should 

 be inclosed in cloth bags, and suspended in a dry room. 

 Imported seed should not, as is frequently done, be sent 

 to our warm climate packed in hermetically-closed me- 

 tallic cases. Neither the seed, nor the thick paper gen- 

 erally used in packing being sufficiently dry, the con- 

 fined moisture will cause a commencement of germina- 

 tion, and the heat generated by the process, and the 

 moisture, is very apt in such cases to destroy the vitality 

 of all. 



Seeds of home growth that are subject to injury from 

 weevils may be preserved in jugs, demijohns, etc., in 

 which a piece of gum camphor, a little cyanide of po- 

 tassium (a most deadly poison), or an open phial of tur- 

 pentine has been inserted. 



THE GERMINATION OF SEEDS. 



As the absence of moisture, warmth and air is 

 necessary to the preservation of the vitality of seed, so 

 the presence of these agents is essential to excite their 

 vital forces, and cause germination. In this process the 

 outer covering of the seed softens, and allows the em- 

 bryo to swell; water is decomposed, and the carbon forms 

 carbonic acid with its oxygen. In the case of sterile 

 seed the softening and swelling occur without any de- 



