89 



Mr. Median's occupation was that of nurseryman, which 

 business he has carried on, in conjunction with his sons, for many 

 years near Philadelphia. He was also editor of Median's 

 Mont lily. Although a very busy man, he always found time to 

 reply to requests for information from less fortunate botanists, 

 and his loss will be mourned by many of us, who, though never 

 having met him, yet look upon him as a friend. — W. .Y. C. 



VITALITY OF WEED SEEDS. 

 An interesting light has been thrown upon the subject of 

 vitality in weed seeds by Prof. W. J. Beal, in the Michigan 

 Fanner. "In the fall of 1879," he says, "twenty-two years ago, 

 T selected seeds of twenty-one kinds of plants, all of them com- 

 mon weeds except one. A considerable number of sets of these 

 were buried in 'clean dirt.' consisting of sand from a depth of 

 about two feet. Fifty seeds of each kind were counted out and 

 placed in each bottle which was buried at a depth of two feet. 

 The seeds were well mixed in each bottle with the sand referred 

 to. At periods of rive years a set has been dug up and tested. Ai 

 the expiration of twenty years, i. e. } two years ago this fall, one 

 set was taken out and the sand containing the seeds placed m 

 two soup plates and gently watered. Some seeds were prompt in 

 coming up and were removed and 'tallied' as they were identified. 

 But there were laggards which skulked in the moist sand. I dried 

 off the dirt for a rest from time to time, and on wetting the soil 

 after two weeks to a month or more other seedlings appeared. 

 The last long rest consisted of perhaps eight months, continuing 

 until November 15, [901. After live days three seedlings are 

 already in sight and 1 am expecting others after a little more 

 time. As I look at ii, the delay of some seeds in germination is of 

 great advantage to the weed, for. if a lot of seedlings start there- 

 may be too many to thrive well, and some will be choked and 

 perish. Again, some of the seedlings, or all of them, may be 

 killed by an untimely frost or by the ruthless hand of the tidy 

 farmer and when the ground is stirred there is a reserve of seeds 



