ON SEEDS AND SEED SOWING 



mant for a year or more. It is on record that a seed of 

 Ranunculus started into growth three years after it was 

 sown. All who grow Sweet Peas know that, as a rule, the 

 seeds show through the soil in about three weeks after 

 sowing. A case came to my notice in which seed was 

 sown in April and sprouted in September. I think this 

 must surely be a record for such an ordinarily quick- 

 growing seed as the Sweet Pea. 



There are instances of seeds of Melon forty years old, 

 of Kidney Bean a hundred years, and of the sensitive 

 plant (Mimosa pudica) sixty years old having been known 

 to germinate. Seeds of some Alpine plants, Crab, Thorn, 

 and Conifer, germinate very irregularly. If sown in 

 pots in autumn, the pots being left out of doors during 

 winter, the seeds often germinate when placed in a warm 

 house in spring. I would advise the gardener never to 

 throw away seed simply because it is old. The best way 

 to prove its worth is to sow it and pass judgment on the 

 resulting crops. Generally, all seed is good for at least 

 a year, and probably very much longer. 



The proper time to sow seeds is as soon as they are 

 ripe, in the way that Nature does. Everyone who has 

 a garden must have noticed that self-sown seed pro- 

 duces, as a rule, finer plants than seed sown by the 

 gardener. This is no doubt partly due to the fact that 

 as soon as ready the seed falls to the ground and there 

 either at once finds the necessary conditions that ensure 

 germination or a covering of leaves, soil, etc., that 



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