CHE REFERENCE LIBRARY - Pole Shift Survival Information

PROPAGATION BY MEANS OF SEEDS AND SPORES 35
&&my seeds demand treatment preparatory to sowing.
Nparly all hard and bony seeds fail t.0 gtWninate, or at least
germinate ~eq’ irregularly, if their (tontents are allowed to
become thorcrughl~ dry aud hard. The shells must also be
s&tmxl or brokt~, ill many cases, before the embryo c’an grow.
Nature treats such seeds by keepin, (r them constantly moist
under leaves c)r mold, and by cracking them with frost. This
suggests the pra,ctice known to gardeners as sfrn~$LY&X2., an
opt33tion that consists in mixing seeds with earth and exposing
them to frost or to moisture for a r~onsiderable time (cf. page 24) +
Stratification is pra&ed, as a rule, with all nuts, the seeds
of forest, trees, shrubs, the pips of haws and often of roses, and
in many cases with the seeds of common fruits.
Seeds should be stratified as soon as possiblt~ after they are
mat,ure. Small seeds arch usunliy plact~tl in thin layers in a
box alti~rnating with ai& iuch or two of sand. Srmietimes the
seeds are mix4 iiltliscritliinut~l~ in the sand, but unless they
are large it, is troublesomt~ to separate them at sowing-time.
The sand i.-; rjfte1! SOCVII with the seetls, 110\;5’e~~~r, but it is difficult
in such wsw to clistributt: thtb seeds c\~t$~. and in sowing
large quantities the ha,nrlliu, cp of the sand entails a cunsiderable
burden and becomes an itt>ul of taspeuse. It is advisable to
pass the sand through a sieve of finer tuesh than the seeds, and
the seeds can then be sifted out at sowing-time. If the seeds
are very small or few iu number, they Mary be placed between
folds of thin muslin, which is then laid in the sand. Any
shallow box, like a gardener’s “ flat ,” is useful in making stratifications,
or pots m&v be used with small lots r,f seeds although
pots are likely to be shattered by much freezing. A flat four
inches in depth might contain two w three layers or strata of
seeds the size of peas.
The disposition of the boxes when filled varies with different