Part III. ] Witt : Sylviculture of HardivicTcia hinata. 
91 
(i) Germination . — The seed lay on the ground during these preliminary 
showers, but to all outward appearance was not affected thereby. Then 
came nearly a week of dry hot weather, until on the 26th the rain began 
again in earnest. Up to this date the seeds had shown no signs of 
germination, but as a matter of fact they had been taking in the moisture, 
and the seed was swelling within its seed coats, and preparing itself for 
further development. Then came six days of continuous rain, during 
which germination was in active progress, with the result depicted in 
Fig. I. 
This figure represents the stage of development on the 2nd July. The 
cotyledons are seen bursting or already having burst out from the seed 
coats, and the radicle well on its way towards forming a tap-root. Let 
us now turn to Fig. II, which shows us the development a week later — on 
the 8th July. A reference to the table of rainfall wiU show that there was 
continuous rain, though light, between the 2nd and 8th July. The soil,, 
however, was well saturated with moisture, and development was very 
rapid. The tap-root is already 5’75 inches in length, and two leaves are 
almost fully formed. It should be here noted that the examples taken 
were typical of the hundreds of seedlings that were germinating all round, 
and that no exceptionally developed spec'mens were chosen. 
We will now pass over an interval of three weeks, which brings us to 
August 1st. Rain fell in small quantities every day except on the 16th, 
22nd to 27th, and 31st. Our typical seedling has now developed into a 
specimen as depicted in Fig. III. Four leaves are fully developed, and 
there is the beginning of a fifth. 
{ii) Development of the tap-root . — The tap-root is, however, the point 
that interests us most. That in Fig. Ill was found to be 9 '80 inches 
in length. For purposes of comparison eight typical seedlings were dug 
up, with the results shown below : — 
