84 THE TRANSPORT OF PLANTS AND SEEDS. 
in heaps, frequently spoil, unless they are often 
sifted and exposed to the air. Seeds saved in 
moist cold summers, as their juices are too watery 
and the substance of their kernels not sufficiently 
hardened to due ripeness, are by no means fit for 
exportation to warmer climates. 
“ Our acorns, unless ripened by a warm summer, 
will not keep long in England ; those acorns 
which are brought from America, and arrive early 
in the year, generally come in good order, owing 
to their juices being better concocted by the heat 
of their summer, and are not apt to shrivel, when 
exposed to the sun, as ours are. 
“These hints are given to show how necessary 
it is to take care that the seeds we send should be 
perfectly ripe and dry,” * 
* 66 Directions for Captains of Ships, Sea Surgeons, and other 
curious persons who collect seeds and plants in distant countries, in 
what manner to preserve them fit for vegetation,”-— -John Ellis, 
London, 1770, 
