Habits of Growth in Apple Trees. [June, 



sound and healthy, but are nevertheless entirely useless or 

 worse. On examining these defective grains by means of a 

 special contrivance whereby the seeds are rendered trans- 

 parent, it can at once be seen that they have no germinating 

 capacity whatever, the plumpness of the seed being due to the 

 presence of the minute larva of the Wheat Midge on the 

 anthers of the unopened flower. In a one-ounce sample 

 recently analysed there were no less than fifteen hundred 

 larvae of this Midge curled up within the husk of the seeds. 



Of the two to three thousand samples of farm seeds 

 examined during 1908-9, only a very few of the samples of 

 Foxtail submitted conveyed the impression that there might 

 have been wilful adulteration, and if these few had been 

 tampered with it was rather by the addition of extraneous 

 rubbish and chaff to good seed than by the addition of any of 

 the seeds mentioned in this article as bearing a remote resem- 

 blance to the true seed of Foxtail. 



Foxtail varies very considerably in weight, from about four 

 or six pounds to twelve or fourteen pounds per bushel. The 

 absolute weight of 1,000 seeds is also of importance, and 

 three samples weighed recently gave results as below : — 



1,000 seeds 



Foxtail. Purity. Weight in grammes. 



No. 1 ... ... ... Pure seed 1-041 



No. 2 ... 91 per cent. 0-846 



No. 3 ... ... ... 42 0*421 



With Foxtail, as with all other seeds, good and pure seed 

 commands a high price, and the farmer does well to make 

 quality his first consideration and price the second. It is 

 always best to purchase grass seeds separately, i.e., not 

 mixed. They should never be bought without a definite 

 guarantee of genuineness, purity, and germination, and the 

 weight per bushel should be ascertained. 



HABITS OF GROWTH IN APPLE TREES. 

 William E. Bear. 

 In relation to distance of planting, pruning, manuring, and 

 fruiting, the habits of growth among different varieties of 

 fruit trees are considerations of importance which commonly 

 receive too little attention. 



Planting. — With respect to planting on a commercial scale, 

 it is obvious that if horse cultivation is to be pursued, at least 



