COLLECTING AND CURATING FRUITS AND SEEDS. 43
Preservation of Essex "Monuments."—The current Report of the
National Trust (to which the Club is affiliated) shows that four Essex pro-
perties are now vested in the Trust lor preservation in the public interest,
viz. :—
Eastbury Manor House, Barking (1918).
Hatfield Forest (600 acres) (1924).
Paycocke's House, Coggeshall (1924).
Rayleigh Mount (4 acres) (1924).
It is sincerely to be hoped that the number may be rapidly increased.
Editor.
BOOK NOTICE.
Warley Garden in Spring and Summer. By Ellen Willmott, F.L.S.,
V.M.H. 2nd edn. 1924.
A new edition of this pictorial description of the well-known Essex
garden has been issued by Messrs. Wheldon and Wesley Ltd., at 10s. 6d. net.
Many of our readers will welcome the opportunity of securing this
magnificent series of forty large tinted photographs at a moderate cost.
ON COLLECTING AND CURATING FRUITS
AND SEEDS FOR THE STUDY OF LOCAL
DISPERSAL.
By T. A. DYMES, F.L.S.
[Read 28th October, 1929.]
A COLLECTION of fruits and seeds, however perfect, does
not, of course, suffice for the study of local dispersal.
In order to understand the Elm, for instance, it is necessary,
among other things, to visit a fruiting tree on a windy day ;
while the secrets of our common plants cannot be discovered
without catching many ants to find out what they are carrying
and examining many furry animals, alive and dead, as well
as fallen leaves which are blown far and wide : nor must we
neglect the study of our own persons and of the mud brought
home upon our boots and clothes, after a ramble. The birds
must also be watched, perhaps for many years or a lifetime,
before a Chaffinch is seen at the berries of the Cuckoo-pint,
or a Diving Duck is observed to come up under a floating seed
and fly away with it on its back to another sheet of water.
Again, dispersal is not confined to fruits and seeds ; it is
effected, sometimes, and for some plants on a large scale, by the