12 THE NURSERY-MANUAL 



hausted the store of food in the seed (or spore) and is able to 

 support itself. A seed may have sufficient vitality to sprout and 

 yet not be able to germinate. The word germination cannot 

 properly be applied to the growing of plants from tubers, as 

 of the potato; vegetation is the better term in such cases. A 

 plant arising from a seed rather than from a bulb, cutting or 

 cion is a seedling ; and from a spore it is a sporeling ; but even 

 seedlings are usually not so called when they have attained 

 some age and show the features of maturity. The science and 

 practice of the propagation of plants by means of seeds and 

 spores is known as seedage; to the details of this subject we 

 now proceed. 



1. THE REQUISITES AND CONDITIONS OF GERMINATION 



If a seed is viable or able to grow, there are three external 

 requisites to germination moisture, free oxygen, and a definite 

 temperature. These requisites are demanded in various de- 

 grees and proportions by seeds of different species, or even by 

 seeds of the same species when differing widely in age or in 

 degree of maturity. The supply of oxygen usually regulates 

 itself. It is only necessary that the seeds shall not be planted 

 too deep, that the soil is porous and not overloaded with water. 

 Moisture and temperature, however, must be carefully regu- 

 lated. 



Regulation of moisture 



Moisture is the most important factor in seedage. It is 

 usually conducted to the seeds by means of soil or some similar 

 medium, as moss or coconut fiber. Fresh and vigorous seeds 

 endure heavy waterings, but old and poor seeds must be given 

 very little water. 



If there is reason to suspect the seeds to be weak, water should 

 not be applied to them directly. A favorite method of handling 

 weak and also very small seeds is to sow them in a pot of loose 



