20 
EOYAL nOETICULTUEAL SOCIETr. 
the seedlings above ground. This arises from the well-known 
fact that the seedling, or embryo plant, derives most of its nutri- 
ment in the early stages of germination from the nutrient matters 
contained in the seed or in the tissues of the embryo itself 
These experiments, then, so far as they go, do not afford any 
evidence of the possession by the manures employed of the power 
reputed to be exerted by some substances, e. g. oxalic acid, of 
hastening germination. 
Notes on tlie Temperature and 'Rainfall from May to tTie end of 
June 1869. 
The state of the weather during the summer of 1869 was in 
in some respects remarkable, and must have had its effect upon 
vegetation ; hence it has been thought desirable to insert a few 
notes relating to this subject. Daily observations were taken in 
the Chiswick garden at a short distance from the experimental, 
boxes; and on the records of those observations as published 
weekly in the ' Gardeners' Chronicle ' the following remarks are 
based. It must be observed that great accuracy was not aimed at, a 
near approximation to the actual state of things being all that was 
considered necessary for the purposes of tins communication. In 
the Table appended are recorded the average mean temperature, the 
sum of the daily means, and the amount of the rainfall during the 
intervals that elapsed between the several days on which observa- 
tions on the progress of the plants were made. 
Erom the Table it will be seen that the temperature fell steadily 
from the beginning of May to the beginning of June, when it 
made a sudden rise, and continued to increase till the end of the 
month. The observations on temperature and rainfall were not 
continued after the herbage was cut for the first time. 
The rainfall was comparatively high in the early part of May, 
but gradually declined till the end of the month, when it sud- 
denly increased at the same period that the temperature was 
observed to be at its lowest. At the end of May, therefore, there 
was a combination of heavy rain and comparatively low tempera- 
ture. In the following week the conditions were reversed ; no 
rain was recorded, but a high temperature prevailed. In the 
middle of June rain again fell, and also in the last ten days, but 
only to a slight amount. The apparent relations of these fluctua- 
tions to the progress and development of the several plants are 
alluded to in the following notes on the growth of the plants ; but 
