Germination 



from the air some seeds will last for centuries, 

 capable of germinating as soon as the con- 

 ditions are favourable. In this way the 

 seeds of the raspberry, cornflower and camo- 

 mile, taken from ancient sepulchres, have 

 germinated as freely as the seeds of the present 

 year. Seeds of reeds have been grown, taken 

 from underground in the He de la Seine — 

 the original site of Paris. These seeds no 

 doubt date from the time when Paris, then 

 called Lutetia, consisted of a few huts of 

 mud and reeds, on the marshy bank of the 

 river. In spite of these remarkable excep- 

 tions we must always remember that, for 

 sowing, new seed is preferable to old ; it 

 comes up better and more abundantly. 



We have mentioned that some seeds are 

 very slow in coming up. Such, for instance, 

 are those of the peach, the apricot, and the 

 plum, which shut out the damp needed by 

 the germ with the thick wall of their kernel. 

 If placed in the ground at once, on the same 

 spot that is afterwards to be occupied by 

 the young plant, these seeds would be exposed 

 to many dangers during their tedious germina- 

 tion. Prolonged rain might rot them, or 

 many animals that enjoy them, such as rats, 

 field-mice, jays, magpies or crows, might dig 



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