PRACTICAL INFERENCES, 117 
maturation, apply mutatis mutandis to the development 
of the fruits and seeds. The farmer, however, especially 
requires for the culture of seed-plants which are grown 
ag annuals, a rapid, uniform, vigorous growth, followed 
by a steady progress towards maturity, a condition 
favored by the gradual cessation or modification of leaf- 
work, and as simultaneous a ripening of all the fruits or 
seeds on the plant as possible. The mode of develop- 
ment of the inflorescence generally considered of mere 
technical or botanical interest, is here obviously a matter 
of practical importance, for plants in which the flowers 
and fruits ripen in succession are obviously less suited 
for the farmer’s purposes than those in which the flowers 
of a particular inflorescence open approximately at the 
same time—as they do in the cereals. To ensure the 
production and good condition of the crop, as in the case 
of cereals, of beans, peas, buckwheat, etc., the first 
requisites to success are, of course, those which promote 
the proper germination of the seed, and then those which 
favor the due development of the root according to the 
nature of the plant. Toa considerable extent the farmer 
is here master of the situation, and by drainage and 
tillage appropriate to the varied nature of the soil and 
the character of the season, he can promote and favor 
both germination and root-growth. Over. leaf-action, 
independent of that which is the direct outcome of root- 
growth, he has less control, as he is at the mercy of the 
seasons. If cold, wet, growing periods are followed by 
dull, cloudy, maturing seasons, the crop must be deficient 
in quantity or quality, or both. The reasons for this 
deficiency have been repeatedly given. ‘The farmer is 
not so able as the gardener to overcome these defects, but 
he is at least able in a measure to evade them by cultivat- 
ing not only a variety of different crops, but numerous 
varieties of the same crop, some of which are sure to 
prove better adapted to sustain themselves under hostile 
