2 . THE NURSERY-MANUAL 



on the ec>ats of ammals-&nd in clothing, holding fast by hooks 

 and barbs of many kinds. Some seeds are ejected forcibly 

 from their capsules, as in the jewel-weed or touch-me-not 

 and the witch-hazel. Many seeds and fruits are carried long 

 distances in ocean currents ; the coconut is the familiar citation. 

 Seeds are transported in the removal of earth, by the commerce 

 in many commodities and by floods that denude the land and 

 carry away its substance. All over the earth the seeds have 

 traveled. Clear a piece of land ever so carefully, till it until 

 all the germinating seeds are killed, remove all the trees and 

 mow the land for miles around, then leave the place alone for 

 a few years, and behold the vegetation that arises ! 



Marvelous are the seeds : each one is an epitome of the 

 species condensed into the minutest space, fashioned every 

 one of its own kind, holding within its coats the possibilities 

 of life on the planet. Everywhere they abound, so common 

 and so familiar that they pass unnoticed. We have never 

 thought of a world without seeds. 



The abundance of seeds is one of the most significant facts 

 in nature. Every kind of tree and bush and herb yields such 

 numbers that it might populate the earth. Branches bend 

 with seeds ; often the winds are laden with them ; they rattle 

 along the ground and pile themselves in the still places. The 

 seeds of begonias and orchids are as dust. Thus are the 

 chances multiplied that the species will not fail. In all this 

 profusion one cannot conceive that sufficient seed will not fall 

 on good ground to give the plant its chance to persist and to 

 yield its fruit after its kind. Nature is prodigal in propagation. 

 We do not fear that vegetation will cease from the earth. 



Yet as abundant as are the seeds, seeming to make failure 

 impossible, they may not germinate readily even in a state of 

 nature. Many kinds are contained in impervious and stone- 

 like coverings that are penetrated or broken only with difficulty ; 

 and the casings may have to rot away or be cracked by frost 



