94 
JOURNAL OF THE EOYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
it put on tissues capable of resisting the strain, or tendency to fall to the 
ground. 
With regard to the duration of seed before germinating, it varies- 
immensely : Wheat, for example, is particularly short-lived. Hence all 
stories of " Mummy Wheat " having germinated after being 8,000 to 5,000 
years in the tombs of Egypt are absolutely untrustworthy. Not only have 
all experiments to make genuine Mummy Wheat grow invariably failed ; 
but it is a common practice of the Arabs to sell fresh wheat] rolled in 
Nile mud to give it the same mouse-colour of true Mummy Wheat. This,, 
of course, readily grows. 
