he
north that certain species of plants may have migrated or disseminated,
the greater the rest period requirement. That is a protective device for
a species to persist in northern climates, because if it were not for
this rest period, those seed would germinate in the fall of the year,
and the young seedlings would be frozen out immediately. But by having
the rest period requirement over winter, the seedlings do not germinate
until the following spring, and the plant can persist. I am speaking now
in general of northern plants. I am wondering if the pecan species in
itself may not be variable in that the southern pecan does not need a
rest period, and the northern pecan is beginning to develop the rest
period requirement.

MR. HARDY: Mr. Chairman, I am inclined to think there may be some other
factor entering into the picture there. A pecan carried through winter
in a dry condition at normal room temperatures would be liable to
develop quite a bit of rancidity by spring. Furthermore, nuts that have
been held over so long in a dry condition may still be good and may
germinate the second year. I'd hesitate to destroy that planting until
next spring, and to my notion that does not indicate dormancy so much as
it would possibly indicate the inhibition of growth by some other
products developed during that storage period.

MR. O'ROURKE: You have brought up a very important point and something
we should not neglect. It may be that drying to a certain degree will
induce dormancy, a grievously overworked word, but you know what I mean.
It may take two years for the seed to germinate, as Mr. Hardy has
suggested. If you can leave them in that cold frame over this winter,
maybe you can tell us next year just what happened.

MR. PATAKY: If we take nature's way, watch a squirrel plant a hickory or
black walnut. He will bury it about an inch deep, and it will stay moist
all winter long, the same as if it were stratified. But if you take a
nut and store in a hot place you are going to slow up or kill that germ.

You can do that very easily in a chestnut. Take a little advice from
nature itself in the locality where you are. If you are in the South,
that nut can start growing in the fall, and it probably won't hurt it,
but if you are in the North, you don't want to start a nut growing in
the winter, because it's going to get winter killed.

MR. O'ROURKE: In all probability the amount of oxygen about the
germinating seedling might