276 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ April 2, 1885. 
lice many records are vitiated by unsuspected leakage of that kind. One 
such I detected myself less than a month since. Lastly, I prefer the 
bottle being in a well-made metal receptacle, so that in the event of the 
water freezing and bursting the bottle the contained water is not lost nor 
the continuity of the record impaired. For all these reasons I adhere to the 
form of gauge and of mounting represented in the engraving (fig. 50). 
As regards cost, it is about the same as Mr. Inglis states, but a perfectly 
accurate gauge of the pattern here shown is made in galvanised iron with 
a htout brass-rim measuring glass and all complete for 12*. 6d. 
Concerning the thermometers, I can only say that thermometers 
placed as shown would not give results comparable with those published 
by the Rryal Meteorological Society for the following reasons:—(1) The 
Society, after many experiments, found that it was better to have the 
bulbs 4 feet above the ground than at any other height; (2) the sun will 
get slightly on the thermometers in early morning and late evening in 
summer ; (3) if a gravel path leads to the stand the thermometers will read 
too high, owing to heat striking up from the path, and this will be 
extremely marked if they are as represented less than 2 feet above it. 
I hope that no reader, not even Mr. Inglis himself, will consider that I 
feel other than most kindly to him. He and I have one common object— 
that of obtaining accurate records of ra ; nfall and of temperature. If every 
garden were equipped as Mr. Inglis suggested it would be a grand help 
to the work to which I have devoted my life, but surely that is no reason 
why I should not mention how I think that it might be made even better. 
—G. J. Symons, F.R.S. 
GLASGOW AND WEST OF SCOTLAND HORTICULTURAL 
SOCIETY. 
The Spring Show of this Society was recently held in St. Andrew’s 
Hall, and proved to be the most attractive and largest that has taken place 
for a number of years. Local nurserymen showed very well. Mr. Austin 
McAslan adorned the platform with numerous flowering plants and some 
very fine Japanese Maples. Messrs. Smith & Simons filled a table 24 feet 
by 6 with fine Palms and Azaleas. Messrs. J. & R. Thyne exhibited floral 
wreaths, crosses, and bouquets of the choicest Orchids, arranged with the 
most exquisite taste. Mr. McKenzie, Paisley, had some fine bouquets of 
Roses and a splendid collection of Dutch bulbs in bloom, filling a table 
24 feet by 6. The first place for a collection of plants was taken by Messrs. 
J. & R. Thyne. This table was most artistically arranged, highly coloured 
Crotons, graceful Palms, and rare Orchids, with Lily of the Valley and 
Maidenhair, making the neatest table that could be arranged. J. L. 
Henderson, Esq., Partick, was second, conspicuous in his collection being a 
magnificent Cordyline indivisa, a splendid Palm, and some good Cycads. 
The bulbs were splendid and very numerous, Messrs. McKenzie and J. 
Sutherland, Lenzie, taking the open prizes. 
In the gardeners’ classes for Hyacinths the prizes for twelve, nine, and 
six were all carried off by Mr. J. Buchanan, gardener, Kincaid; and 
similar honours in Tulip classes were taken by Mr. Heron, gardener, 
Pollokshaws. The Tulips were splendid specimens. Mr. Hogg, gardener, 
Aitkenhead, took the lead with stove and greenhouse plants, Azaleas, and 
vegetables, his Azalea amoena being in grand condition. Rhododendron 
Countess of Haddington was also wonderfully well grown and flowered. A 
splendid specimen of Dendrobium speciosum was exhibited by Mr. Fleming, 
Garscube, having twenty-one spikes of blooms. 
THE GERMINATION OF SEEDS. 
(Continued from, page 151.) 
[A lecture delivered before the Institute of Agriculture. South Kensington, March 
81st, 1881, by Professor G. T. Bettany, M.A., B.Sc., F.L.S. Published by Messrs. 
Chapman & Hall.] 
Now why have I introduced this matter of the loss of weight in germi¬ 
nation in this place, notwithstanding that the starchy constituents of the 
seed are believed to furnish a great part of the material which is lost in 
this way ? It is because I wish to emphasise what is the controlling 
influence in this oxidation—this respiration. Notwithstanding that the 
starch may yield the fuel for this burning or oxidation, the oxidation would 
not take place but for the activity of nitrogenous living substance. The 
starch might remain long in contact with water without undergoing such 
oxidation. It is the living substance in which is the fire, which is, in fact, 
itself the fire beginning to build up and tumble down as soon as it gets to 
work, and in that tumbling down, wasting, grinding itself down, so to 
speak, and by its very activity drawing towards it fresh fuel, fresh food, 
just as surely as the busy activities of the populations of great cities draw to 
them perpetually renewed stores of beef and milk. Consequently, we find 
that as soon as the seed begins to germinate, the starch which it contains 
begins to be dissolved. The starch is simply one of the resting states of 
that kind of body known as the amyloids, or the carbohydrates, in which 
the hydrogen and oxygen are present in the same proportion in which they 
are in water, not in the form of water, but in a very much more condensed 
form. 
The change which the starch undergoes is something more than solution. 
True, the starch is dissolved ; it disappears. But if it still remained chemi¬ 
cally the same it would not pass through cell-membranes. It is very note¬ 
worthy, in connection with the chemical structure of starch, that the 
change which is necessary to enable it to take a diffusible form, in which 
it can pass from place to place in the plant, consists in the addition of a 
molecule of water to its constitution, whereby sugar is formed. But this 
change does not ordinarily take place without the development of a special 
ferment which acts the part of a beneficent busybody, setting afoot and 
keeping in activity the transformation. An important ferment of this kind 
is diastase, which is tolerably well known to occur in malt; but numerous 
others are known. Diastase, however, is that which has been most com¬ 
pletely isolated, and its effects most carefully studied : and it has been 
found that one part of diastase can convert 2000 of starch by weight into 
soluble products in a few minutes, supposing an acid is present. This 
ferment diastase has been proved to occur in Oats, Wheat, Maize, and Rice. 
In a certain experiment 76 parts of cold starch paste were taken and four 
parts of ferment solution added. In two minutes there was a complete 
solution of the grains. In half an hour no more reaction with iodine could 
be obtained, showing that starch was completely absent. The solution then 
contained 45 per cent, of sugar. Formic acid is the acid most favourable to 
this process, and this acid is readily formed by the oxidation of starch itself, 
great part being given off as carbonic acid and water, while the remainder 
becomes formic acid. 
There is now reason to believe that the starch so converted into sugar is 
the principal food of the protoplasm, becoming available for continually 
building it up anew. It is singular that the plant in germinating does not 
lose any appreciable quantity of nitrogenous compounds ; these keep pretty 
much the same, although we have evidence that the compounds themselves 
are continually changing. The bodies which diminish during germination 
are the starchy bodies, whose products, carbon and water, can be and are 
given off. Maize germinated twenty days in darkness decreased in dry 
weight from 130 to 70 grains, the starch and dextrin having diminished 
from about 100 to 10 grains. 
But it may be asked, What is the condition of germination in those seeds 
which do not contain starch, but only very thick cell-walls of cellulose like 
the Date stone ? The cellulose perfectly replaces the starch, and becomes 
in its place the food of the little geim. It becomes dissolved and trans¬ 
formed by a ferment, and actually starch is manufactured in the process, 
being very near to cellulose in chemical composition. A similar fact has 
been discovered in the germination of those seeds which contain much fat 
and oil, though there is this difference, that in order to produce starch and 
sugar by the transformation of fat, a much greater quantity of oxygen must 
be combined with the fat, and associated with this there is much formation 
of carbonic acid and water. During this active change, as in the Date, 
starch appears in a solid form, temporarily, though not present i n the 
ripe seed. The importance of the availability of fat being proved is shown 
by the fact that no seeds are quite without fat; in Wheat and Oats the fat 
is 2 per cent., in Maize 5 to 8 per cent., in Linseed 30 per cent., in Rape 40 to 
50 per cent. 
I will not refer to the temperature of germination, but this is of the less 
importance, because practically we are not able in farming operations to 
control this. We all know the unfavourable influence of frost on germina¬ 
tion. Many seeds germinate very quickly under favourable circumstances, 
especially Crucifer® and Grasses. But the period varies in the same species 
under apparently identical conditions. The greatest longevity appears to 
appertain to the Peas and Beans—fifteen years ; but practically three years 
is the limit within which you may expect the great bulk of seeds to germi¬ 
nate. Still, the extensive keeping of seeds for three years is not to be 
recommended, as the natural period of germination is the year after the 
ripening of the seed. But it is valuable to keep stores of the seed of various 
years in case of failure in subsequent years. 
As to the relative value of larger and smaller seeds I may be allowed to 
say a few words. The larger seeds in general produced by a given plant 
have a stronger germination, and thus have a greater vitality. In the case 
of Beans and Peas, in large seeds the lengths of root-axis were in the pro¬ 
portion of 150 to 130 produced by smaller seeds. The same is the case with 
the number of root-fibres and the length of stem. This advantage in 
germination continues till the plant is fully developed. It is a good start, 
and leads to the production of a better stem, more seeds and better seeds. 
In the larger seeds of Peas and Beans it is the cotyledons which are the 
largest. The roots of the larger seeds penetrate with greater ease into the 
deeper layers of the soil. They may also be buried or sown deeper in the 
soil than smaller seeds. In every way it is advisable to sow the heaviest 
and largest seeds you can get. 
I have thus given a brief outline of the proeesses which occur in the 
germination of plants. The result of the processes is of undoubted interest— 
namely, the development of healthy young plants. It is very striking that 
with the exception of water the young germinated plant derives nothing 
from the soil, and with the exception of oxygen nothing from the air. How 
important, then, are the due breaking-up of the soil that oxygen may have 
free access, and the supply of water. The knowledge of the composition 
of seeds and the changes which take place in their constituents during 
germination, may be of service to all who wish for an intelligent compre¬ 
hension of processes they see every day going on around them. They may 
show the reason for a choice of large seeds and the utility of microscopical 
and chemical examination of seeds. The fact of highest interest to a 
biologist, however, is perhaps the close parallel which is found to exist 
between digestion in animals and the conversion of the food stored up in 
seeds into materials available for feeding the growing germ. Thus we see 
exemplified—the unity of life, the similarity between the early stage of a 
seedling and the adult form of the highest animal, the proof that plants as 
well as animals digest their food, and that the distinctions between them are 
but minor compared with the great and fundamental bonds which unite 
them. 
ALEYRODES YAPORARIORUM. 
Gardeneks have numbers of enemies to contend with, and they need 
be good-tempered men. Among the many insect pests that frequent our 
plant and fruit houses, the one most difficult to exterminate, Aleyrodes 
vaporariorum, first became troublesome when it became the fashion to 
grow Tomatoes under glass, and it seems to find its way to wherever they 
are grown. Unfortunately it does not confine its attention to Tomatoes, 
but will exist and rapidly increase on various other plants. There is no 
need to describe it, as only too many of us are well acquainted with this 
little white fly. It is far from being nearly cr quite stationary like other 
insect pests, as if we only tap an infested plant they rise in a cloud, hence I 
suppose its pretty distinctive name. This renders it difficult to be destroyed, 
as soluble insecticides only reach a few, and as soon as we commence 
fumigating they seem to understand what is coming, and quietly drop 
to the ground, to return to their old quarters in the course of a few 
hours. 
