It is an old story that a bad workman is the first to quarrel with his tools. If a tree does not grow or a seed come up, it is not uncommon to remember that the tree had poor roots, and to feel sure that the seedsman must have given roasted or old seeds. Mr. Thomas Christy, in a recent work on the Cinchona, thus gives his experience with different gardeners on the same lot of Cinchona seeds. He says :

"There is much more intelligence required in the germination of seed than many people attach to it. For instance, I took some Cinchona out of a packet that had arrived and handed it to three men. One lot of seed came up as thick as possible to •be, hardly a seed failing to germinate. The second man's pan had a fair sprinkling of young plants, but the third man's pan had no. signs of any Cinchona plants in it at all. All three men were professional gardeners, and nothing was said to them about the experiment; each did his best."