September, 1908.] 



255 



SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE, 



INFLUENCE OP THE CHARACTER OP 

 SEED ON THE GROWTH OP TREES. 



I -i an address to the Royal Scottish 

 Arboricultural Society, Dr. Somerville 

 drew attention to experiments made in 

 Australia and Switzerland to test the in- 

 fluence of elevation on seed of the spruce 

 and larch. In the case of the Swiss 

 experiments, an examination of the 

 seed procured from trees of approximate- 

 ly equal age situated at different ele- 

 vations showed that there was a gradual, 

 though by no means regular, reduction 

 in size according as it was obtained 

 from low and high elevations ; for in- 

 stance, it was found that 1,000 seeds 

 usually weighed more than 6 grammes 

 when obtained from an altitude under 

 3.000 feet, and less than 6 grammes when 

 the altitude was 3,000 to 6,000 feet. The 

 percentage germination followed the 

 same order, being 70 to 80 for lower alti- 

 tudes, and 50 to 60 for higher altitudes. 

 It was also clearly shown that there was a 

 relationship between the rate of growth 

 of the seedlings and the elevation at 

 which the seed was gathered. As is well 

 known, above a certain altitude the 

 growth of trees in height is affected, 

 and at the upper levels the trees became 

 more or less stunted. These experi- 

 ments showed that this reduction in the 

 stature of trees is a character that is 

 inherited, for example, plants from seed 

 gathered at a height of 1,800 feet were 

 18 inches high after 5 years, while seed 

 obtained from levels between 5,000 and 

 6,000 ^feet only produced plants 9-10 

 inches high. Similar results were ob- 



tained in Austria, where spruce gather- 

 ed and sown at an altitude of 1,700 feet 

 attained a height of 53 inches after 15 

 years, while seed sown in the same nur- 

 sery but gathered at a height of 5,200 

 feet only gave plants 30 inches high. 

 The height-growth in 1905 was also 

 smaller, so that fifteen years after sow- 

 ing the seed the slower growth of 

 plants from seed harvested at a high 

 altitude was still conspicuous, and it 

 seems p"obable that this characteristic 

 will be maintained throughout the life 

 of the tree. A number of other trials 

 were made besides those mentioned, 

 and also some with larch and sycamore, 

 which confirm the conclusion as to the 

 transmission of the tendency to slower 

 growth. The converse is also true, for 

 seed from low elevations produced 

 plauts that throve badly at high alti- 

 tudes. For use at high altitudes, 

 seed from similar altitudes must be 

 obtained, and Dr. Somerville thinks it 

 not unlikely that woods could be grown 

 in Scotland at greater heights than at 

 present if high-grown coniferous seed 

 were obtained for the purpose. Gener- 

 ally seed should be obtained from well- 

 grown healthy Lrees situated in the 

 district where the woods are to be 

 grown, or in a district of similar char- 

 acter. — Journal of the Board of Agricul- 

 ture, Vol. XV., No. 2, May, 1908. 



[This is the method employed in Java 

 to get Liberian Coffee to grow at higher 

 elevations than it would naturally 

 stand. It has, we believe, now been 

 successfully cultivated as high as 

 3,500 feet.— Ed.] 



