432 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [JUNE 
germination of seeds of conifers, and specific reference will be made 
to a few of the more pertinent papers on the subject. 
It is a matter of common knowledge that conifer seeds germi- 
nate slowly. It is also well known for several of them that as 
they grow older the rapidity of germination increases, up to at 
least the end of the first 6 months after they were gathered. 
SCHWAPPACH (27) states that in the fall seeds of Adzes did not begin 
to show sprouts for 60 days, and required 40 days more before the 
test could be considered closed. In March they began almost 
immediately and finished in 20 days. The conclusion is natural 
that after-ripening takes place, and this, in fact, is assumed by 
workers who have recently attacked the problem. HILTNER and 
KINZEL (14), it is true, reasoning from results obtained by treating 
seeds of Pinus Strobus, P. Peuce, and P. Cembra with concentrated 
sulphuric acid, ascribed the delay to coat restrictions. LAKON 
(20) has made the objection that the tests on which these authors 
rely were too few and on too small a number of seeds. He repeated 
their experiments with the same three species of pine, but could 
obtain no forcing of germination. Untreated seeds took up water 
just as well as did the treated ones, even though their outer coats 
were hard. Careful determinations of the amount of water 
absorbed by untreated seeds of Pinus sylvestris, P. Strobus, P. 
Peuce, and P. Cembra showed that all of them reached nearly the 
maximum in 24-48 hours. Increases in weight after that time 
were practically negligible; hence it is clear that such seeds cannot 
be considered ‘‘hard-coated’’ like the seeds of legumes. More- 
over, the cutting test, applied to these seeds, showed that all of 
them were damp, that is, had absorbed water. Increases in weight, 
therefore, were not due to a few easily swelling seeds. From these 
results LAKoN concludes that conifer seeds are not, strictly speak- 
ing, “hard-coated,’”’ and that delay is due to conditions within 
the embryo. 
Although Lakon found concentrated sulphuric acid ineffective, 
CORREVON states, in a paper published somewhat earlier, that 
weak acid (0.25 per cent acetic or 2 per cent phosphoric) increases 
the germination of seeds of Juniperus Cedrus. 
ScHWAPPACH recommends cold storage for 14~30 days (he does 
not say how cold) for seeds of Pinus Strobus, followed m a germi- 
