'absolute weight' 631 



of these differences in anything more than a vague manner, there 

 is no doubt that the larger seeds are more highly nourished 

 during their development and contain more reserve food for 

 their embryos than the smaller ones. In wheat the flowers in 

 the middle of the ear open first and are therefore sooner in 

 beginning their development; fruits in this position are also 

 found to ripen last, so that the total time for storage of reserve 

 food in them is longer than in the case of those growing at 

 any other part of the ear, and we should expect them to be 

 larger in consequence of the increased nutrition. 



Climate influences the amount of 'assimilation' which can be 

 carried on by the plant, and therefore the size of the seed to 

 some extent is dependent upon it. 



Apart from theoretical considerations, it has been shown by a 

 large number of experimenters that, leaving out tlie very large 

 ones as exceptional and to some extent probably diseased, the 

 larger the seed the more vigorous the embryo plant, and the 

 more food it possesses for its early development. The larger 

 root which it generally has, enables . it to become more easily 

 established in the ground, and it is better able to carry on 

 'assimilation' on account of its superior leaf surface than a 

 plant from a smaller seed. 



The vitality of plants raised from small seeds is not so great 

 as from larger ones ; they are more liable to succumb to adverse 

 conditions of climate and soil. It has been shown that the 

 amount of produce given by the use of large seeds, is greater 

 than that obtained when smaller ones are employed ; moreover 

 the quality, so far as size is concerned, is generally transmitted 

 from parent to offspring, large seeds giving large, and small seeds 

 giving small plants. 



The respective weight of 100 or 1000 seeds taken from two 

 separate samples, is an accurate guide to the relative difference 

 in the average size of the seeds in each, and is of very great 

 importance, as it will be found to be the most reliable and easy 



