252 PACKIN& SEEDS IN EAETH, WAX, ETC. 



inoli and a half or two inclies of sand, according to the size of the seeds, 

 and go on placing the seed and sand in alternate layers, tiU the hox is 

 full ; place three inches more sand on the upper layer of seed, and 

 fasten down the lid. With these precautions, such seeds as those ahove 

 mentioned, and others of a similar kinji, wilL travel for some months 

 without injury. It is, however, necessary to ohserve, that the sand, or 

 earth, must he pressed down very firmly, so that it may not be able to 

 settle away from the sides of the box after the lid is fastened down. 



For short periods perishable seeds may be packed in the manner 

 described by Sir William Hooker, in a communication to the Gardeners^ 

 Chronicle (1844, p. 558). " Seeds of the Nutmeg-tree, by Mr. Lockhart, 

 of Trinidad, were removed from the pulp and mace, packed in moist 

 moss, and closed in a tin box almost hermetically. They germinated 

 during the voyage, and threw out a radicle and a plumule to the length 

 of an inch or more each, and apparently could not have come in a fitter 

 state for planting with a prospect of their success." It may be sup- 

 posed that in this instance either the decaying moss furnished the 

 young nutmegs with food, or that there was not time for germination 

 to be arrested. Probably they would have come still better in a bottle 

 of moss kept damp, but supplied with air; as is done with aquatic 



Dr. Eoyle states that in consequence of the difficulty- 

 experienced in sending to the Himalayas such seeds as the 

 Filbert and Spanish Chestnut, he tried the effect of immersing 

 such seeds in wax just melted, and met with complete success 

 in repeated attempts. The Chestnuts and Filberts are de- 

 scribed as arriving at Bombay, Calcutta, and Saharunpore, in a 

 perfectly sweet and fresh state. 



It seems worth inquiring whether aU seeds would not preserve 

 their vitality most perfectly if kept in an atmosphere of car- 

 bonic acid, which seems likely to oppose an effectual barrier to 

 those changes which destroy seminal life. It would not be 

 difficult to have bottles so contrived that after being fiUed with 

 seeds their air might be exhausted and replaced by carbonic 

 acid, which might be retained by hermetically seaUng the 

 aperture in the bottle. An attempt to verify tHs conjecture 

 was made, in 1847, by the Horticultural Society, who sent seeds 

 thus packed to New Zealand; but the result was never reported 

 by the agents of the New Zealand Company. The experiment 

 deserves a new trial. If it fails, the loss wiU be trifling; if it 

 succeeds, the gain would be great, for the cost of bottles and 



