Seedling

“ Both together form no large store, but sufficient for establishing the seedling, with tiny root, stem, and pair of leaves for initiating its independent growth; which in due time proceeds as in Fig. 44, 45.
Fig. 44. Seedling of Morning Glory more advanced (root cut away) ; cotyledons well developed into foliage-leaves: succeeding internode and leaf well developed, and the next forming. 45. Seedling more advanced; reduced to much below natural size.
34. Smaller embryos, less developed in the seed, are more dependent upon the extraneous supply of food. ”

“ As a rule we plant about a peck of seed every year, and out of that peck of seed it probably brings us 10,000 seedlings, and out of this 10,000 we get one good seedling, and this is the only good seedling that we have produced this year. ”

“ For though the seed would appear to be the proper source whence to derive our new plants, and certainly our new varieties of fruits, many plants have, for an indefinite period, been propagated by layers, shoots or scions, buds, tubers, etc., and that the variety has thus been extended much beyond the period of the life of the parent or original seedling. ”

“ When you set a new lot of plants you get some of these seedlings, and that is how the mixture comes in. I have counted one hundred and fifty seedling plants around one old plant in the spring. Of course the most of these where good tillage is practised are destroyed, but some remain in spite of all you can do unless you pay the very closest attention and learn to distinguish rogues from the true named varieties. All rogues must be kept out if you keep the variety true to name. ”

“ The food of a young seedling.—When such a seed as that of a bean is germinated in damp sawdust or wet clean sand, and kept in a warm and light place, it puts out a radicle, which grows downwards and becomes the main root, and a stem which grows upwards and bears green leaves. ”

“ Lift each seedling with a spoon, so as to keep a ball of the moist earth around the roots, set it in a hole made where you want your flower to grow, and then fill up this hole with water before you begin to put in the rest of the soil. ”

“ Moreover, although observation may show that a seedling, weighing only two or three grains, may double its bulk and weight every week of its early growth, and may in time produce a huge amount of vegetable matter, it is still to be asked what this vegetable matter is, where it came from, and by what means plants are able to increase and accumulate it, and build it up into the fabric of herbs and shrubs and lofty trees. ”

“ Just as that small portion of nourishing matter which is deposited in the seed feeds the embryo when it germinates, so the much larger portion deposited in the tuber nourishes its buds, or eyes, when they likewise grow, the next spring, into new plants. And the great supply enables them to shoot with a greater vigor at the beginning, and to produce a greater amount of vegetation than the seedling plant could do in the same space of time ”

“ The seedlings, five or six years old, are very striking objects to one from the North, consisting, as they do, of the straight, leafless stem, surmounted by a crown of deep green leaves, arching and spreading like a palm. ”

“ When the seedlings begin to appear, give a little air and lay sheets of paper tenderly over them during the hour or two at midday when the sun may be shining brightly. But keep them from the first as ‘hard’ as possible with plenty of light and air, always taking care that they are neither roasted, nor blown away by the cruel east wind, nor nipped at night by a killing frost. ”

“ Regular Seed Forest or High Forest. In the system already mentioned above of seeding from the side, the trees near the cut areas are depended upon to seed these areas. Moreover, no especial pains are taken to preserve the forest floor and the forest cover. But all trees do not bear seeds annually, nor do their seedlings thrive under such conditions. In other words, in some forests especial pains must be taken to secure reproduction, and the forest conditions must be maintained with special reference to the growing crop. ”

“ Once upon the ground, the seed has to germinate if it can; its root has to pierce the soil or find a way in between crevices of rocks or sharp-edged stones. All the time it is exposed to danger from birds, beasts, and insects, which are only kept off by its resin. But it is difficult to see, for its colour is just that of dead pine needles and its shape is such that it easily slips into crevices. Then the seven or eight small green seed leaves break out of the tough seed coat, and the seedling is now a small tree two inches high. ”

“ Stout healthy seedlings, one or two years old, may be at once removed from the seed-bed to their place in the forest, and will often succeed as well as when nursed in rows, as above.———We have preferred the pick of the seedlings to the common run of the transplanted, as being probably stronger growing varieties. ”

“ Several thousand willow trees were thus successfully planted by this violent wind.
Seeds are the chief means by which the forest is extended or produced. They are sown by wind and gravity, by water, by birds and beasts. I have dwelt at length upon the romance of seed-scattering in "The Spell of the Rockies," in the [Pg 216] chapter concerning "The Fate of a Tree Seed." Each species of tree has its own way of scattering its seeds. Once upon the earth, they and the seedlings that may spring from them have peculiar limitations and special advantages. ”

“ To make our collection complete there should be seedlings of the other great division of plants, namely, those with only one seed-leaf, such as palms, cannas, bulbs, grasses, &c. A few date-stones kept in moist earth, and placed where they will have a slight degree of regular heat, will supply one of these specimens, and Canna seed, Indian corn, and other plants of the kind, grown in the same way, will supply other examples. ”

“ The same lot of seed will be seen to yield twice or thrice as many seedlings if thus protected, compared with what it would have produced when sown in the field or in the garden. I have nearly wholly given up sowing seeds in my garden, as circumstances can be controlled and determined with greater exactitude when the sowing is done in a glasshouse. ”

“ Seeds, giving new varieties, are sown as soon as ripe. The seedlings seldom rise above the surface the first year, all their energies being spent in the formation of roots. The common herbaceous varieties are oftenest propagated by division of the clumps. Each portion should possess at least one bud upon the crown. All woody species may be increased by layers and cuttings. Cuttings are taken late in summer, cut to a heel, and are handled in a frame or cool greenhouse. ”

“ In a month the shoots will be from three to four inches high. When seed is sown and dry weather follows, the seedlings will perish. It will be necessary, therefore, to plant the ground anew. It is wise, therefore, to raise plants in a nursery to supply the vacancies in the hills. ”

“ When the last seed of the year has fallen, how thickly the woodland regions are sown broad [Pg 305] cast with seeds! Only a few of these will have landed in a hospitable place. The overwhelmingly majority fell in the water to drown or on rock ledges or other places to starve or wither. The few fortunate enough to find unoccupied and fertile places will still have to reckon with devouring insects and animals. How different may be the environment of two seedlings sprung from seeds grown on the selfsame tree! ”

“ But seedlings, varying, some in one direction and some in another, are thereby adapted to different conditions, some to one kind of soil and exposure, some to another, thus lessening the competition between the two most divergent forms, and favoring their preservation and further separation, while the intermediate forms perish. ”

“ When the earth is all ready for the planting, and the [Pg 41] sweet, moist odour rises when you open the seed papers with fingers almost trembling with eagerness, it seems second nature to be lavish. If a few seeds will produce a few plants, why not the more the merrier? If they come up too thick, they can be thinned out, you argue, and thick sowing is being on the safe side. But is it? Quite the contrary. When the seedlings appear, you delay, waiting for them to gain a good start before jarring their roots by thinning. ”

“ Seeds, sown without being shelled, usually in a seed-bed. When the young plants have made three or four leaves, they should be removed to permanent quarters. Seedlings should furnish crops in three years. By root-cuttings, four or five inches long, taken from well established plants. These should give plants strong enough for cutting in two years. ”

“ They are of easy culture in ordinary garden soil. Propagated by seeds, which should be sown in pots, in spring, and placed in a gentle heat, where they will germinate in about a fortnight. When the seedlings are large enough, and after having been previously hardened off, they may be planted out in their blooming quarters, or potted on and trained to a trellis. ”

“ It is an abundant seeder, and its favorite seedbed is moss, muck, decayed wood, and wet ground litter of various kinds. For the first few years seedlings are sensitive to frost, but not in later life. ”

“ Seedlings are absolutely distinct individuals; they are the product of the pollen of one plant and the ovules of another, and they start afresh in life with some chance of being fairly free from the hereditary taints or personal failings of either parent. But cuttings or suckers are only the same old plant over and over again in fresh circumstances, transplanted as it were, but not truly renovated or rejuvenescent. ”

“ For the open garden, I strongly recommend seedlings. The cultivator must not expect all the flowers to be as good as the parent, or even all double. There will be from ten to fifteen per cent with single flowers, all the others having double flowers, some as good as, or even better than their parents; but the majority will be of uncertain quantity.
SUNKEN GARDEN, SUNDERLAND HALL, WITH UNUSUAL TREATMENT OF HEDGES
"The seed will germinate in a hothouse well within a week from the time of sowing, and the seedlings should be pricked out in boxes as soon as large enough. ”

“ Those raised from legitimately fertilised seeds will be here called LEGITIMATE SEEDLINGS or PLANTS, and those from illegitimately fertilised seeds, ILLEGITIMATE SEEDLINGS or PLANTS. They differ chiefly in their degree of fertility, and in their powers of growth or vigour. ”

“ In such cases, Nature, who abhors bare ground, is endeavouring to clothe it with useful vegetation.
The fights which are going on are of the most ruthless character. Many weeds are said to produce some 30,000 seeds in one year, and every plant which grows in a meadow is scattering thousands of seeds. But of course the number of plants remains much the same, so that 29,999 seeds are wasted (or the seedlings choked out) for every one that grows up! ”

“ The girls planted all their seeds except poppy and grass seed in drills just as one plants lettuce and radish. This is a far easier way to plant since as the little seedlings come up one can easily distinguish the nice even row of little plants from weeds. ”

“ Then the shaded seedlings do not try any more to grow into plants. They give up the materials they have collected to the little brothers and sisters who have started in the good ground and the sunlight. ”

“ Propagated by seeds, by layers or cuttings under frames outside, or inside with a gentle bottom heat; but seedlings always make the best plants. The seeds should be sown early in the spring in pans or boxes in a frame, and lightly covered with sifted sandy mould. Cuttings should be made from three to four inches long. They may be struck in spring or autumn, in sandy peat under glass. ”

“ Prick off the seedlings when about an inch high, putting the plants in down to the seed-leaves. They must never be allowed to suffer for want of water, nor should they be starved in small pots. The growth had better not be hurried at any stage; the plants will then develop into shapely specimens with very little care. ”

“ Every form of plant-life, from the giants of the forest, the oak, beech, fir, and others, to the tiniest moss, has its beginning in the seed. Every plant has its flowers, its fruit, and its seeds. It is in the seed that vegetation is preserved in a thriving condition through the ages; it is by the seed that every tree, every shrub, every blade of grass propagate their kind and leave a numerous progeny. [130]
“Who would not like to know,” continued Uncle Paul, “something about the formation of the seed that is sown in the ground to become either a little plant or an enormous tree? ”

“ When living tree seeds are exposed to proper amounts of moisture, warmth and air in a fertile soil, they will sprout and grow. A root develops which pushes its way down into the soil, while the leaf-bud of the plant, which springs from the other end of the seed, works its way upward toward the light and air. This leafy part of the seed finally forms the stem of the tree. But trees may produce plenty of seed and yet fail to maintain their proper proportion in the forest. ”

“ In the first place, the sun warms the ground in which the seed lies buried. Then the seed swells and bursts, and sends downward a little root; the root drinks in the water from the soil, and so gets larger, and spreads around; and by-and-by it sends up a stem above the ground. As soon as the sunlight falls on the little plant, it gets stronger, and is able to take food as well as drink from the soil, so as to get its full shape and size and green color. ”

“ If a seed like that is planted, it may make a tree like the root part of the one from which it came, or it may make a tree like the upper part, or it may make something different from either one. No one can tell what that seed will bring. So fruit growers [149] plant a great many such seeds each year, and once in a great while some new peach, or apple, or plum, or cherry, finer than anything ever grown before, comes from one of those seeds. ”