PROPAGATION OF PLANTS. 91 



other animals. Small quantities of seeds of this kind may 

 be stratified in boxes and flower pots, covered from rats 

 and mice and placed in a cool situation until spring. Holly 

 seed requires to be kept thus two years. When vegeta- 

 tion begins to take place, the seeds, still mixed with the 

 earth in which they have lain, can be sown in soil properly 

 prepared. The larger seeds can be taken from the soil 

 and planted out in the drills at proper distances. 



Seeds must be sown in the proper manner. Seedsmen 

 are often blamed for selling bad seed, when the sole fault 

 is with the planter. That seed may germinate, moisture, 

 air, and a certain degree of warmth, varying with each 

 variety, are necessary. Chick weed will vegetate at 32 

 F., but for most seeds of plants of temperate climates the 

 best germinating temperature is about 60 F.; of half-hardy 

 plants 70 F.; of tropical plants about 80 F.; but some 

 require 100 F. 



Light must also be excluded until the root can derive 

 nourishment from the soil. The first effect of air, heat, 

 and moisture upon the seed, is to change its starchy mat- 

 ter into the proper food of the embryo. If at this time 

 the seed be withered by exposure to heat without sufficient 

 covering, it will perish. It often happens that seeds are 

 planted in a fresh-dug soil, and the above change in the 

 properties of the seed takes place, but the earth not being 

 pressed upon it, the seed dries up and the embryo perishes. 

 Others, again, are buried too deeply, and though the seed 

 swells, yet sufficient air and warmth are not obtained to 

 give the embryo life. The seed should be just so far 

 covered as to exclude light, and afford barely sufficient 

 moisture for its wants. The first thing in sowing is a 

 suitable preparation of the soil, so that the young roots 

 thrown out may easily penetrate it. It must be made 

 more or less fine for different seeds. Peas and beans do 

 not require the soil to be as finely pulverized as small 

 seeds. The seeds must also be firmly fixed in the soil, and 



