ON THE GERMINATION OF SEEDS. 347 
March, where they will find the first paper by W., and the reply of 
W. M. The following should have appeared in April or May. 
On the Germination of Seeds .—I regret that W. M. has not endea¬ 
voured to refute the whole of my assertions; an appearance of unfair¬ 
ness would thus have been avoided. No one, having advanced an 
opinion, or asserted a fact, whether in conversation or in the pages of 
a periodical, likes to meet with a reply, professing to be a refutation of 
the whole, when half, at least, of the observations remain unnoticed. 
In the latter case, it is especially irksome ; for, as the argument can 
be carried on by the two parties only, it perhaps becomes a source of 
annoyance to numerous readers, and occupies that space in the work 
which might have been far more profitably employed. I unwillingly 
extend this subject, but hope for the kind indulgence of the Editor and 
his readers while I add a few lines, which, had W. M. dealt courte¬ 
ously and candidly by my former observations, would have been 
unnecessary, and consequently would not have appeared. No one feels 
quite at ease under unmerited obloquy. 
That “ all seeds remaining on the surface inevitably perish,” I, on 
my part, am prepared to contradict. W. M. adds, “ some fall into a 
crevice in the earth, a worm-hole, or the burrow of some animal, or are 
trodden in by the feet of others.” Undoubtedly some do so fall; but that 
is no proof that tc those which remain above inevitably perish.” In the 
dry autumn of last year, a neglected Capuchin lettuce plant in my 
garden, shed its seed during calm weather; rain was much wanted, but 
no rain fell; yet did that seed germinate, and come up so thickly, that 
not the point of a pencil could have been inserted among the innume¬ 
rable little cotyledons which covered a plot of earth beneath the size of 
a vine leaf. There was, in this case, no room for “ some to fall into the 
earth, or a worm-hole ;” and certainly the profusion of young plants 
proved that none had perished on the surface. This I have seen. I 
have also seen sprouted wheat taken from the top of a wheat-sheaf; but 
W. M. wholly omits to notice the last-named fact, yet says I am labour¬ 
ing under as fallacious an opinion as, I suppose, the Editor of the 
Encyclopaedia of Gardening to be. 
How that can be fallacious which is obvious to every person during 
a warm, wet harvest, I own I am at a loss to comprehend. This wheat 
which I saw had never been near the ground from the time it was put 
into sheaves; some of that seed, therefore, had not fallen into the 
earth, or a worm-hole,” &c. Is this courteous, modest, just, or wise, to 
condemn a whole series of remarks as fallacious, which are open to the 
observation of the least attentive observer of nature, and of which 
