PRACTICAL ItfFEREtfCES. 117 



maturation, apply mutatis mutandis to the development 

 of the fruits and seeds. The farmer, however, especially 

 requires for the culture of seed-plants which are grown 

 as annuals, a rapid, uniform, vigorous growth, followed 

 by a steady progress towards maturity, a condition 

 favored by the gradual cessation or modification of leaf- 

 work, and as simultaneous a ripening of all the fruits or 

 seeds on the plant as possible. The mode of develop- 

 ment of the inflorescence generally considered of mere 

 technical or botanical interest, is here obviously a matter 

 of practical importance, for plants in which the flowers 

 and fruits ripen in succession are obviously less suited 

 for the farmer's purposes than those in which the flowers 

 of a particular inflorescence open approximately at the 

 same time as they do in the cereals. To ensure the 

 production and good condition of the crop, as in the case 

 of cereals, of beans, peas, buckwheat, etc., the first 

 requisites to success are, of course, those which promote 

 the proper germination of the seed, and then those which 

 favor the due development of the root according to the 

 nature of the plant. To a considerable extent the farmer 

 is here master of the situation, and by drainage and 

 tillage appropriate to the varied nature of the soil and 

 the character of the season, he can promote and favor 

 both germination and root-growth. Over leaf-actioa, 

 independent of that which is the direct outcome of root- 

 growth, he has less control, as he is at the mercy of the 

 seasons. If cold, wet, growing periods are followed by 

 dull, cloudy, maturing seasons, the crop must be deficient 

 in quantity or quality, or both. The reasons for this 

 deficiency have been repeatedly given. The farmer is 

 not so able as the gardener to overcome these defects, but 

 he is at least able in a measure to evade them by cultivat- 

 ing not only a variety of different crops, but numerous 

 varieties of the same crop, some of which are sure to 

 prove better adapted to sustain themselves under hostile 



