Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. SEEDS—SEED-SOWING—POT-CULTURE — PLANTING AND TRANSPLANTING— CUTTINGS — LAYERS —GOOTEE — GRAFTING AND INARCHING — BUDDING — PRUNING AND ROOT-PBUNING CONVEYANCE. SEEDS. Though many of the ornamental plants of our Indian gardens can only be propagated by cuttings or layers, there are at the same time several which may be as well, or better, raised from seed. Flowering annuals and culinary vegetables it is of course impossible to obtain in any other way. In a paper sent by Dr. E. Bonavia to the ' Journal of the Agri-Horticultural Society,' vol. xiv., p. 190, there are some remarks upon the acclimatization of seeds, which it may be found interesting to refer to. Dr. Bonavia there asserts, " If a plant germinates, grows well, and seeds, there is no sensible reason why it should not be improved in this country as well as anywhere else, provided the conditions of healthy and luxuriant growth are invariably given. For any one to talk of degeneration of seeds in this country by acclimatization is simple nonsense." That much country-saved seed, however, does become degenerate, even when the conditions above mentioned are secured, my own experience has proved to a certainty. This may be often, though not in all cases, owing to the want of protection from the scorching effect of the sun upon it while yet immature, and when the plant that bears it becomes so parched that it can afford it no sustenance. This I have clearly ascertained and provided against, in the case of the Lupin, as noticed further on; and it is only reasonable to conclude that the same may hold good as regards other plants of a temperate climate that decay soon after they have blossomed on the approach of the Hot season. But admittingthis, it remains to be explained, why even in England, where a...