166 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
February 21, 190?. 
pieces of flannel are kept sufficiently moist to furnish the re¬ 
quirements of genii inating seeds. Oxygen is obtained from 
the air without any special or artificial provision. Soil is 
unnecessary, because the requisite food is present in the embryo 
to enable it to develop a root or radicle, stem and seed leaves, 
or cotyledons, when germination, may be described as com¬ 
plete. 
A correspondent calls our attention to- an article on the 
subject in a monthly contemporary. The article in question 
speaks about the finding of all kinds of curiosities in the be¬ 
haviour of seeds. Such things, although recorded as curious, 
rare, or interesting, may only be so from man’s particular point 
of view, provided they are quite ordinary or normal for the 
plant in question. In germinating seeds the Mangel is said 
to give “ 160 to 170 or even 200 per cent. That is to say, 
almost eveiy seed would give two growths. The latter state¬ 
ment is not strictly correct, and the former requires explana¬ 
tion. The seeds of the' Beet, and its varieties known as Mangel, 
produce their flowers in clusters of three or more, densely 
crowded together. The calyx is persistent and the hurts stick 
together more or less in little bunches, and when these are 
sown two or three may come up together, but. each belongs to 
a separate seed, so that the supernumerary seedlings are 
accounted for in this wav. 
Another question comes into play where it is stated that 
Celery, Parsley, and the Parsnip refuse to grow when placed in 
a heated germinator. There is a certain range of temperature 
within which any particular seed or plant can grow at all, and 
if these limits are exceeded growth cannot take place. At a 
certain low temperature, varying with each species, growth will 
proceed slowdy, but faster as the heat rises, until it reaches a 
certain point, when the plants grow rapidly ; as the temperature 
still rises it will reach a point at which growth ceases altogether. 
In the case of Celery and kindred seeds, it must be determined 
what temperature best suits them before they can be expected 
to germinate satisfactorily. Not only must the temperature be 
suitable, but, all other conditions necessary must accompany 
successful germination. The seeds of Shepherd's Purse, and 
various other weeds may lie in the soil for months without ger¬ 
minating if the soil is too diy. Moreover, if they are covered 
too, deeply, so as not to' have free access to air, they fail to 
germinate. 
Portulaca is described as being almost explosive in its energy 
to grow when placed under conditions suitable to germination ; 
but eve confess never to have made this wonderful discoveiy, 
although we have germinated the seeds frequently. Certain 
of the species of Salix will germinate within two days, but we 
should not like to postulate that any seeds will germinate much 
more quickly than that, whatever the conditions may be. 
There are instances in which one seed will give rise to more 
than one seedling. For instance, the Orange will give some¬ 
times as many as eight embryo® inside. Close examination 
shows that these supernumerary seedlings arise by the prplifeia- 
tion of the embryo by a process of budding as it were. Usua y, 
the embryos are too small to germinate, and only two or three 
of them would come up. A similar case occurs m Tnphasia 
Aurantiola, also belonging to the same family. 
There are instances in which it would be difficult to' say why 
some seeds should germinate more quickly than others, even 
when they are similar in construction and composition as well 
as in family relationship. Seeds of annuals usually germinate 
more quickly than those of biennials, but, here again there are 
exceptions. Mustard and Cressi are 1 good instances, and if the 
gardener wishes to have them fit for use contemporaneously 
the Cress, must be sown some days in advance of the Mustard. 
Peas and Beans are instanced as seeds that.germinate m 
forty-eight hours, provided they have been previously soaked 
in water. We might add Scarlet Runners, Dwarf Beans, Sw eet 
Peas and various others of the same family as seeds that gei- 
mina’te quickly when placed under suitable conditions as to 
air moisture, and temperature. These seeds germinate iapid y 
for the simple reason that the embryo is fully developed, and 
whenever the conditions are suitable for growth the embryo 
is ready to grow away rapidly. In the summer time, or when 
the weather and the ground are warm, it may he safe t 
soak seeds of these things before committing them to the soa 
In the early spring, however, when the ground is cold and wet, 
it is not only superfluous to soak these seeds, but m many 
cases it is positively injurious'. The excess of moisture taken 
up by these seeds bursts the skin, and the embryo is exposed 
to the effects of the cold, wet soil, and in many cases dies. 
To take another instance as to the peculiarities, of seeds, 
we may say that Celery, Parsnips, Parsley, Onions, and various 
other things take a long time to germinate. In the case under 
notice it is stated that they take twenty days to germinate 
when sown in the open ground, but, that, they refuse to grow it 
placed in a, heated germinator. There is good reason for this 
behaviour, but it must be sought, for inside the seeds them¬ 
selves, The embryo, in all these cases is very small, and sur¬ 
rounded by a mass of reserve food known as endosperm. Before 
the seedlings in these cases can germinate, the embryo must 
make growth inside the seed and feed upon this food material 
for many days before they are capable of rising above the 
around and exposing themselves to light. By comparing them 
with other seeds we may say that the, embryo ceases to grow 
at an earlier stage in the case of Celery than in the case ot 
tlio Pea, for instance. When placed under suitable conditions) 
the growth of the embryo, recommences, but it requires a con¬ 
siderable amount, of time for the chemical changes to take 
place by which the food material may be changed into a soluble 
form that can be taken up by the embryo, for its sustenance 
and growth. It is not difficult, therefore, to see that some 
seeds' should take much longer to germinate than others. 
Seeds of the Rose, Auricula and Violet are described as 
erratic ; but the first-named is a, veiy hard-shelled one, and 
tire Auricula belongs to the Primulas, several of which require 
to be sown immediately after they have reached maturity, 
otherwise they may not germinate at all. It must also be 
noted that the Auricula has a small embryo surrounded by 
endosperm, which gets very hard when allowed to become diy, 
and it is not readily able to, take up moisture, even when placed 
under conditions otherwise suitable for germination. 
By sowing the seeds of P. japonica as soon as ripe, whether 
in boxes or merely in a frame, they will lie in the ground till 
spring, and then come up by hundreds as if every seed had 
been good. If allowed to sow themselves on a north aspect 
border, the seeds will come up freely in spring and grow to 
flowering size as freely as a British -weed. No artificial heat 
whatever is required in raising them. The chief object, to be 
kept in view is to sow the seeds where they will be kept con¬ 
tinuously moist till germination has taken place. Should 
these particulars not be attended to, the germination of this 
particular species will be unsatisfactory, if not entirely a 
failure. Many cultivators have had this experience, from the 
introduction of the species onwards. This fact will also explain 
the uncertainty attaching to seeds which have been imported 
from abroad, and which have crossed the Equator twice in the 
course of their journey, and been subjected to extreme tem¬ 
peratures on the journey. Home-saved seed, treated as above 
recommended, has therefore the best chance of growing into 
plants; and even if the seedlings take several months to appear 
above ground, it must be remembered that the embryo has to 
make a considerable amount of growth before it is able to make 
its exit from the seed. 
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