394 THE FUTURE OF ARID LANDS 
Germination and Vegetative Propagation (27, 28) 
It became clear, when we started, that for all reseeding work a 
thorough research on the germination conditions of the seeds 
involved is of paramount importance. We can state today with 
certainty that any reseeding project in desert areas is doomed to 
failure when it does not provide for a special systematic research 
on germination and propagation problems. We should like to 
illustrate this point by citing a few examples. 
In the course of an investigation on the use of the wild growing 
plants of the Negev for industrial purposes it was found that 
Funcus maritimus, a perennial hydrohalophyte, produces excellent 
raw material for the paper industry. In order to propagate this 
plant, seeds were collected, and field sowing was carried out in the 
Negev. It failed completely, as the seeds did not germinate. The 
problem was then handed over to our germination laboratory 
where it was found that 7. maritimus is an obligatory light ger- 
minator (between 20° and 30°C). Treatments with thiourea and 
potassium nitrate, which are known to promote dark germination 
in light-requiring seeds, did not abolish this need for light. It was 
concluded that ¥. maritimus could be propagated by seed only 
by means of surface sowing, in spite of the agrotechnical difh- 
culties involved. 
A method was therefore worked out to sow the seeds in shallow 
ditches on top of continually moistened soil. This was carried out 
in Yotvata (Nahal Arava) with very satisfactory results. 
It is interesting to note that a chloride content of ca. 4,800 ppm 
in the water did not affect germination. In sodium chloride solu- 
tions containing 7,000 ppm chloride, germination percentages 
decreased, but the germinated seedlings were not injured, al- 
though the chloride concentration had eventually increased twice 
to threefold by evaporation during the tests. 
During the search for good native pasture plants it was found 
that Colutea istria, a perennial legume growing wild in the dry 
stream beds (wadis) of the Negev highlands, is an excellent pasture 
plant. Its germination is, however, inhibited in two ways: the 
seed coats are impermeable to water and they also contain a 
water-soluble growth inhibitor which considerably retards seed- 
