SIED SOWING. 



23 



frost ; without a sufficient supply of water, they will not 

 come up when sown in dry sand ; for want of air they 

 will not come up if too deep in the ground ; and if not 

 duly covered, they will not come up from having too 

 much light. 



Seeds, however, often germinate in the light, such as 

 corn in wet seasons, before it is cut ; but they do not, in 

 these cases, produce strong plants, as the root requires 

 to shoot away from the light, as much as the stem into 

 the light. Birch seed succeeds best when not covered. 

 These ai'e exceptions, not rules. 



Most seeds are benefited by steeping them for an hour 

 or two, previous to sowing, in pure water, which, in the 

 cold weather of spring, may be made milk-warm. Pickles, 

 train-oil, urine, and other steeps, must, in most cases be 

 injurious ; and will never, as is ignorantly pretended, 

 destroy the eggs of insects, even if such be among the 

 seed, of which we know^ not a single instance, not even 

 the eggs of the turnip-fly, as lately asserted. 



Too much water, however, will be certain to injure the 

 seeds, by gorging them, and rendering them dropsical and 

 liable to rot. But, on the other hand, many seeds will 

 vegetate in water alone, provided the vessel in which they 

 are placed be open at the top for the admission of air ; 

 so that a good supply of water is absolutely essential for 

 furthering this process. It is important, however, to 

 avoid both extreme drought and moisture, in the propa- 

 gation of plants by seed, either of w^hich is more or less 

 injurious. Hence the prox)riety of sowing seeds when the 

 weather is only moderately wet, and the ground not 

 saturated with moisture, in order that the seeds may 

 obtain a due supply, but not a redundance of water. 



The seed-lobes, after having parted with some of their 

 nutrient matter, for the production of the roots, protrude 

 themselves from the soil, expand, and are changed into 

 seed leaves. They then perform functions of a totally 

 different nature, and proceed to prepare pulp from the sap 

 now taken up by the young root, for the support and 

 development of the stem and leaves. ^Yhen these latter 

 have become sufficiently expanded to be capable of pro- 

 viding pulp for themselves, and the otlier parts of the 



