THE FRUIT AND THE SEED 101 



often germinate well when ten years old. As a rule, oily 

 seeds, as of Indian corn, sunflower and the cabbage family 

 (cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi, Brussels sprouts, rutabaga, 

 rape, turnip, mustard), are shorter lived than starchy 

 seeds, as wheat and rice. Oily seeds cannot safely be 

 stored in bulk in large quantities, except in cool weather. 

 The preceding table gives the average period during which 

 the seeds named are reliable for germination, when prop- 

 erly cared for : ^ 



165. Conditions affecting the duration of seed viability. 

 — A uniform degree of humidity and temperature tends 

 to prolong the vital period of seeds by causing little drain 

 upon the life of the living cells. Seeds deeply buried in 

 the ground are often capable of germination at a great age, 

 and kidney beans at least one hundred years old, taken 

 from an herbarium, are said to have germinated. In 

 these cases, the seeds were subjected to few variations in 

 himiidity and temperature. 



Seeds usually retain viability longer when not removed 

 from their natural covering, probably because they are 

 thus exposed to fewer changes of humidity and tempera- 

 ture. Timothy seeds, that become hulled in threshing, 

 lose viability sooner than those that escape hulling, even 

 when the two sorts are kept in the same bag. Indian 

 corn is said to retain viability longer on the cob than 

 shelled, and longer when the ear is unhusked than if 

 husked. 



166. Moisture is an enemy to stored seeds, except for 

 the class that requires stratification, as seeds with fleshy 

 coverings and nut seeds (169). A little moisture is very 

 liable to cause the development of fungi (molds) in stored 



' "The Vegetable Garden," Vilmorin-Andrieux, Paris. 



