Germination

“ In the experiment already recorded on the germination of seeds the interest is by no means confined to that which attaches itself to the arrest of the organizing functions of the seed, those namely which manifest themselves in the development of the radicle, and plumule, and other organs of the young plant. ”

“ Their fortuitous dissemination does not always bring seeds upon a suitable nidus for germination, the primary essential of which is a sufficiency of moisture, and the duration of vitality of the embryo is a point of interest. Some seeds retain vitality for a period of many years, though there is no warrant for the popular notion that genuine Germination of Seed. ”

“ Onion is excellent, except that it germinates too slowly. In order to study the root development of germinating plantlets, it is well to provide a deeper box with a glass side against which the seeds are planted. 12. Observe the germination of any common seed about the house premises. When elms, oaks, pines, or maples are abundant, the germination of their seeds may be studied in lawns and along fences. 13. When studying germination the pupil should note the differences in shape and size between cotyledons and plumule leaves, and between plumule leaves and the normal leaves (Fig. 30) . ”

“ The first requisite for successful seed germination is a proper degree of heat. For every kind of seed there is a temperature below which germination does not occur; another, above which it does not occur, and another, the best, at which, providing the other factors are favorable, germination will go on most rapidly. ”

“ I have just begun a large course of experiments on the germination of the seed, and on the growth of the young plants when raised from a pistil fertilised by pollen from the same flower, and from pollen from a distinct plant of the same, or of some other variety. I have not made sufficient experiments to judge certainly, but in some cases the difference in the growth of the young plants is highly remarkable. ”

“ All the planetary elements belong to germination, and to growth the Cosmical also with all its actions. To germination belongs earth, water, and air; to growth, light, heat, and gravity; with all the four mineral classes also, such as earth, salt, Inflammable, and metal. The plant contains silicious and calcareous earth, salts, coal with sulphur, and lastly, iron.
1478. Germination is the disjunctive emergence wrought by means of moisture, heat and oxydation in the processes of decomposition and fermentation. No seed germinates in irrespirable kinds of air. ”

“ But if, in lieu of either plan, we follow the original design of Nature by covering the seed with moist earth, the chemical changes which take place within it, still resulting in heat and motion, produce that special form of movement which we know as germination. New cells form themselves about the feathery head, a little sprout pushes timidly its way through the surrounding soil, and soon a pair of rounded leaves or a spike of pointed blades may be seen spreading a mass of delicate green toward the open sunlight overhead. ”

“ This pause, often of so long duration, in the growth of the embryo between the time of its perfect development within the seed and the moment of germination, is one of the remarkable and distinctive features of the life of Spermatophytes. The aim of germination is the fixing of the embryo in the soil, effected usually by means of the root, which is the first part of the embryo to appear, in preparation for the elongation of the epicotyledonary portion of the shoot, and there is infinite variety in the details of the process. ”

“ Germination.—The length of the period during which seeds remain dormant after their formation is very variable. The conditions for germination are much the same as for growth in general. Access to light is not required, because the seed contains a sufficiency of stored-up food. The temperature necessary varies according to the nature and source of the seed. Some seeds require prolonged immersion in water to soften their shells; others are of so delicate a texture that they would dry up and perish if not kept constantly in a moist atmosphere. ”

“ Germination.—Growing plants, it is seen, take their life-force from the sun; but seeds germinate and commence to grow in the dark. Evidently there must be some other source from which they draw their supply of force. They cannot draw force from the sun. This fact is intimately connected with another fact, viz., that they do not draw their food from the mineral kingdom. The seed in germination feeds entirely upon a [Pg 179] supply of organic matter laid up for it by the mother-plant. It is the decomposition of this organic matter which supplies the force of germination. ”

“ Their cases are so hard and absorb moisture so slowly that germination is a long process. To hasten this little holes may be drilled in the case, thus giving the plant germ a chance to get out. Nurserymen crack the nuts in order to help matters along. You can readily see what a really difficult piece of work it is for a tiny embryo or baby plant to break open a thick case.
"If seeds are planted too deeply again, a tremendous piece of work is imposed upon the little plant. To push up through, say one inch of soil, would be quite a task for a lettuce seedling. ”

“ He notes the germination of the plant seed and its early growth, step by step approaching a stage of maturity; it blossoms, produces seed, and if it is an annual plant, withers and dies. If it is a perennial plant its leaves only, wither and die at the approach of winter, the plant passing into a resting stage from which it awakes the following spring to repeat again its annual cycle. ”

“ They may be best rendered intelligible by reference, in the first instance, to the changes occurring during germination, when the young plant is nourished by a supply of food stored up in the seed, in sufficient quantity to maintain its existence until the organs by which it is afterwards to draw its nutriment from the air and soil are sufficiently developed to serve that purpose. ”

“ The necessity for such contrivances arises out of the fact that a moist, warm soil, and a still, moist, warm atmosphere, are peculiarly favourable to the germination of seeds and the rooting of cuttings, and if the amateur will always bear this fact in mind, the business of propagating will be no longer a perplexity and a worry, but one of the most delightful amusements. ”

“ Nature gave the principle of germination to seed, the rest of agriculture was left for the experience of man to discover, for in the beginning before the interference of man plants were generated before they were sown, afterwards those seeds which were collected by man from the original plants did not generate until after they had been sown. ”

“ Passing over the alleged case of the mummy wheat, the validity of which is denied, there is experimental proof that seeds may, under conditions unfavourable to germination, retain for ten, twenty, and some even for thirty years, the power to germinate when due moisture and warmth are supplied. ”

“ The full ripening of the seeds of some cultivated varieties of vegetables, and also the drying of the seeds severely without artificial heat, are found to have considerable influence upon the germination of the seeds, and even some impression upon the character of the resulting plant. ”

“ When all the planting is in and the soil watered, if necessary, newspapers should be spread over the soil and the bed closed and germination awaited. If the sun is very hot it may be necessary to raise the sash before the plants appear, but where this is done care must be taken that the papers are not disturbed by the wind, as if blown about the soil will dry out and check or kill germination. ”

“ To facilitate germination some growers file the seed, others soak it until the skin becomes sufficiently soft to permit of the paring away of a small portion with a sharp knife. In either case caution must be exercised to avoid injuring the germ. A safer mode of attaining the object is to soak the seeds in water, placed in a greenhouse or stove, for about twenty-four hours before sowing. ”

“ It appears to me now that the most promising field for experiments made with a view to clearing up this difficulty, is that afforded by the closer investigation of the phenomena of normal germination, and by a study of the conditions under which seeds remain dormant, as they are occasionally known to do, in situations which our general experience would have selected as favourable to germination. ”

“ Take one or two hundred seeds, and putting them on a damp piece of the pith of a plantain tree, mixed with a little earth, set them in a warm place, and in two days you will be able to tell what percentage has germinated, and what is incapable of germination. ”

“ After germination, the seedlings should have plenty of light and air, or a weak, spindly growth, and, as a consequence, poor flowers, will result. The most satisfactory method of watering very tiny seeds is to place a piece of fine muslin over the seed-pot, through which the water will be easily conveyed to the seeds, and thus prevent disturbance. ”

“ This nourishment was supplied by the mother plant to the ovule and seed, and thence taken into the embryo during its growth. Such embryos, filling the whole seed, are comparatively large and strong, and vigorous in germination in proportion to the amount of their growth while connected with the parent plant. ”

“ When the process of germination has terminated, if the young plant is brought under the yellow glass, it grows most healthfully, and forms an abundance of wood, the leaves having an unusually dark green colour, from the formation of a large quantity of chlorophylle. Plants do not, however, produce flowers with readiness under this medium ”

“ In fresh-water experiments, in nearly all cases, the seeds ultimately germinate in the water, and this is the usual cause of the close of the experiment. In an ordinary collection of floating seed drift from a pond or river, germination will go on for years at each successive spring, the postponement of germination being a very striking feature with a fair proportion of seeds in river and pond-drift. ”

“ Because the covering of the seed, like the shell of an egg, is designed to preserve the germ within from the influence of external agencies, until the time for development has arrived, and the conditions of germination are fulfilled. ”

“ The seed coats have a certain influence in determining germination at the proper time, inasmuch as they make it difficult for the seed to germinate under the stimulus of a quantity of warmth and moisture insufficient to support the seedling. ”

“ The germ-grains or spores of cryptogamic plants were at that time often regarded on insufficient grounds as true seeds; Gärtner distinguished them from seeds, because they are formed without fertilisation and yet are capable of germination, whereas ovules become seeds capable of germination only under the influence of the pollen. ”

“ Suggestions.—Few subjects connected with the study of plant-life are so useful in schoolroom demonstrations as germination. The pupil should prepare the soil, plant the seeds, water them, and care for the plants. 10. Plant seeds in pots or shallow boxes. The box should not be very wide or long, and not over four inches deep. Holes may be bored in the bottom so it will not hold water. Plant a number of squash, bean, corn, pine, or other seeds about an inch deep in damp sand or pine sawdust in this box. The depth of planting should be two to four times the diameter of the seeds. ”

“ In a small garden patch it is not much work to stick a mark of some kind in the center of each hill and if this is done cultivation can commence at once and a hard crust be prevented from forming; this will hasten the germination of the seed and insure the elimination of weeds at the start. ”

“ The fruit when dry, again contracts as before, and the experiment may be repeated ad libitum. What a wonderful œconomy of Nature to produce the seeds just at the moment proper for their germination, and preventing them until that time from falling on the parched sands and rocks upon which those plants vegetate! In some plants, natives of cold regions, where seeds are in danger of perishing by moisture, and there is seldom sufficient warmth for their vegetation, an œconomy the direct reverse takes place. ”

“ Second, seeds are transported by water across oceans, &c. when they can be floated on any material by which they are preserved, as by wrecks and masses of wood, which have been washed down the rivers.
Third, they are conveyed by man to all parts of the globe.
Fourth, a period of latency is observed to apply to them, that is, they require certain essential conditions before germination occurs; so that even in some localities, a plant may not have been known to exist in a particular neighbourhood, but by a train of circumstances, it may make its appearance, and again be a centre of development. ”

“ Growth from the Seed. Phanerogamous plants grow from seed, and their flowers are destined to the production of seeds. A seed has a rudimentary plant ready formed in it,—sometimes with the two most essential parts, i. e. stem and leaf, plainly discernible; sometimes with no obvious distinction of organs until germination begins. This incipient plant is called an Embryo. ”

“ Why, when seeds are sown, and germination begins, does the leaf-germ seek the light, and the root-germ grow down into the earth?
Because the Creator has endowed every single seed with a [Pg 324] vital instinct which governs its development. The rootlet could more easily grow upward than downward, because of the looser earth, and of the exciting influences of light and moisture. Yet it takes the contrary course, leaving the leaf-germ to come up to meet the sun-light, and to send down to the stem and roots, the matter needed for their growth. ”