GERMINATION OF SEEDS. TS 
from which they are grown; ec. g., seedlings of Red Cedar grown 
in Missouri from seeds of native Minnesota trees would be safer 
to plant here than seedlings raised in Minnesota from the seeds 
of native Missouri trees. 
Seedling Variations. In our common trees variations are 
not sufficiently marked but that we think of the trees as coming 
true from seeds, and yet careful observation will show to any 
one that each seedling plant is different from neighboring plants 
of the same species. Sometimes a seedling will occur that pos- 
sesses especially pleasing or curious characteristics that are very 
marked and desirable. In such cases the seedling is generally 
propagated by some method of bud-division and makes a new 
variety. In this way have originated such highly-esteemed kinds 
as Wier’s Cut-leaf Maple, which was a chance seedling of the 
Soft Maple, the Weeping American Elm, Cut-leaf Birch, Weep- 
ing Mountain Ash, Pyramidal Arborvite, and a host of other 
kinds that are propagated by bud-division by nurserymen. The 
person who is on the lookout for these or other variations will 
have no trouble in finding many that may perhaps be worth 
naming and propagating. 
Gathering Seeds. All kinds of seeds should be gathered 
when ripe. In some cases it is best to pick them from the trees 
even before they are quite ripe, after which they will ripen if 
kept dry. Unripe seeds do not keep as well as perfectly ripe 
seeds. Most kinds of tree seeds are most cheaply gathered from 
the ground. In some cases this method can be greatly facili- 
tated by cleaning up the land under the trees so it will be smooth 
and even. Seeds of some species can often be swept up at little 
expense from under trees growing along the highway. 
Germination of Seeds. There are many conditions which 
affect the germination of seeds: 
(1) Seeds which are thoroughly ripened before they are 
gathered produce the best plants. Very immature seeds will 
very often grow, but the tendency with them is to produce weak 
plants. (2) Freshly gathered seeds, as a rule, are preferable to 
old seeds for sowing, and seeds that have never been allowed to 
become very dry are more likely to grow than those which have 
been severely dried. This is especially true of most of the kinds 
of seeds that ripen in early summer, the most of which lose their 
