THE SEED 53 



by the addition of resin or oil soap. Carbolineum, especi- 

 ally, has been used very successfully against soil exhaustion. 



THE SEED 



Good germinating seeds will sprout well in from ten 

 to twenty days, and if the seedlings do not appear in that 

 time, investigation should be made. It sometimes happens 

 that seeds may be over-ripe, having a hard shell. Some 

 growers, therefore, always adopt the plan of soaking their 

 seeds for ten or twelve hours; others adopt the plan of 

 burying the seeds for a number of days in flats, in moist 

 soil or in sand, then unearth them to see whether swelling 

 has taken place. If the peas show signs of increased size, 

 and have soft shells, they are on the way to germination. 

 But, on the other hand, if the shells still remain hard, it 

 will be necessary to file them or chip them in some way, so 

 that moisture can penetrate, and allow the germinating 

 seedling to make its way through the coat. 



On one occasion we saw seeds of a certain variety sown, 

 and they lay as dead as door nails for three weeks in the 

 ground, while several other varieties had started into growth, 

 but being curious to define the reason, search was made for 

 the seeds that had failed to sprout, and they were found 

 to be perfectly hard. After being filed, however, they 

 germinated perfectly satisfactorily. Of course, where a 

 large quantity has to be sown the filing method is cer- 

 tainly laborious, but it is the only commendable one. 



In regard to white flowered varieties, it is well known 

 that some have light seeds and some have black. The 

 light seeds are the least vigorous and oftener fail to ger- 

 minate than the black ones. It is for this reason it is 

 advised to sow them more thickly and not so deep as the 

 black. They are much more liable to fail in cold soils, 



