46, 
The Mechanical Condition of the Soil 
from inability on my part to make It worthy of commendation ; 
still 1 shall not regret having made an attempt, through which I 
have obtained much valuable information, and have extended and 
renewed my acquaintance with many of the practical farmers of 
Berkshire. 
Moulsford, Wallingford, Berks. 
February 28th, 1860, 
II. — The Mechanical Condition of the Soil favourable for the 
CrTOwth of Seed. By Professor Tanner. 
Prize Essay. 
The cultivator of the soil will find in the preparation of the land 
for the reception of seed his most laborious duties and those 
which demand his greatest judgment and skill. When these 
are accomplished he has, comparatively speaking, little else to 
do but to commit the seed to the ground, leaving the work he 
has carried thus far to be completed by the secret operations of 
Nature, directed by His will who established the law that seed- 
time and harvest shall not fail. 
Plants, having passed through several stages of growth and 
performed the earlier functions devolving upon them, have the 
last but most important duty of life reserved for the period of 
their greatest perfection and beauty. This duty is the formation 
of seed, endowed with powers capable of reproducing plants 
similar to those by which the seed has been formed. In the 
seed we have one of the most interesting examples possible 
of the wise provision made for the perpetuation of the various 
forms of vegetation. In it the powers of vegetable life lie dor- 
mant until aroused by the conditions favourable for their develop- 
ment, and when these are present the seed forthwith springs into 
action and growth. In speaking of vegetable life we naturally 
associate with it the co-operation of some mysterious power, by 
which the vital energies of the plant are stimulated to action ; 
but although we cannot fully understand the primary principle 
of life, yet an examination into the changes which take place in 
the growth of seeds will remove much of the mystery which is 
often attached to it. To this end, we may take the seed of 
wheat as a familiar specimen for our examination. It is particu- 
larly worthy of notice that the seed consists of two distinct parts 
• — the germ, which is the true seed ; and the nourishment stored 
for the growth of the germ. The position of the germ is indicated 
by a sear or cicatrix upon the skin, but it is a minute body and 
forms but a small proportion of the entire seed. It is always 
