HORTICULTURAL MANUAL. 



CHAPTER I. 

 SEEDS AND SEED-GROWTH. 



Seeds are embryo plants capable of growing into new 

 individual plants more or less varied from the parent plant. 

 As tlie first stage of plant-life it should have the first at- 

 tention of the beginner in horticulture. 



1, Seedling Variations. — Under natural conditions the 

 seed reproduces the species very nearly. If we plant the 

 pits of our native plums, the species will in the main be 

 reproduced, yet no two of the seedlings will be alike in all 

 respects. Not only will we have slight variations in leaf 

 and habit of growth, but in the size, color, and season of 

 the fruit. This variation has given us by selection such 

 native plums as Wyant, Wolf, and Eollingstone, and some 

 of our most valuable grapes, gooseberries, raspberries, and 

 other fruits. 



The natural variation from the seed has also by selection 

 given us some of our most desirable ornamental and shade 

 trees and shrubs. As a well-known instance, the hand- 

 some cut-leaved weeping birch is a sport or variation of the 

 Amur-birch species {Betida Amurensis). If propagated 



