89 



In the course of my work on the " Seedlings," I have arrived at much the same 

 results as those of Professor Ewart. With very few exceptions I have dated herbarium 

 specimens for the seeds sown for producing the seedlings, while the dates of the drawings 

 of the cotyledons were always noted. My difficulty was to obtain seed; if it was 

 available in a well-grown state, I had no difficulty in getting germination with seeds 

 up to 30 years old. One has to bear in mind that fruit-bearing specimens lose most 

 of their seeds in the post if there is a delay of more than a few days between gathering 

 and receipt in the herbarium, and that the heavier, fertile seeds go first. Then in a large 

 herbarium there is more or less steady demand for a few seeds as the years roll on, 

 and finally the least plump seeds (amongst the fertile ones) as well as the sterile ones 

 are often all that remain. I think that Professor Ewart's results on longevity are 

 decidedly on the safe side, and I hope that they will be supplemented by himself and 

 other observers, usmg dated seed of ascertained botanical origin, such seed to be first- 

 class, and preserved in such containers as are employed by first-class seedsmen. 



The buyer who requires more than packets should demand seed tested as to 

 germination. I have been official buyer of Eucalyptus seeds for South African 

 Governments since 1897, and never pass untested seed. As a very general rule, the seed 

 supplied by high-class firms shows a high percentage of germination, but as they 

 usually buy it from collectors they are dependent on the conscientiousness of others. 



In the Botanic Gardens at Sydney there is an up-to-date seed-testing establish- 

 ment maintained by the Department of Agriculture, where seed can be tested on 

 behalf of anyone at a trifling cost, so that there is no excuse for sowing bad seed. The 

 question of seed being true to name is a wider one, as will be obvious to those who have 

 studied the facts I have brought together in the present Part. 



Guppy (" Observations of a Naturalist in the Pacific," II, 479), records finding 

 drift Eucalyptus fruits on the Valparaiso (Chili) beaches; but I know of no researches 

 as to mature seeds completing such a voyage, and (if any) how many remain fertile. 

 As Eucalyptus seeds fall out so readilv after the ripening of the capsule, I am afraid 

 very few would stand the turbulence of the waves. Nor have they chitinous coats, 

 as have those of Acacia. 



4. -SEEDS FOR FOOD OF ABORIGINES. 



In my " Forest Flora of New South Wales," Part 44, pp. 75, 76, are some 

 notes on Eucalyptus seeds used by the aborigines for food. There are three references, 

 viz., (1) Seeds of a Yellow Box from Central Queensland, referred to by the late Mr. 

 P. O'Shanesy, of Rockhampton; (2) seeds of a Coolabah from Mr. Herbert Clark, of 

 Killaw, Mulligan River; (3) Eucalyptus seeds forming a staple article of diet in the 

 Boulia district of Queensland, recorded by Dr. Roth, then Protector of the North 

 Queensland aborigines. 



