Question
Hello Tom,  I read your article on starting dogwood seeds and was curious about the seed needing to go through the digestive tract of an animal or bird or removing the red flesh from the stone first to get the seed to germinate?

Answer
Hi Jerry,
Thanx for your question.  Many seeds travel through the digestive tracts of animals before they germinate but it doesn't always have to be that way.  By going through the animal's digestive tract, the hard seed coat is weakend or broken down so that it can germinate.  You can scarify seed by nicking them with a knife or rubbing a bare spot with a file.  I'm sorry if I confused anyone.  You do not have to duplicate this to get the seed to germiante.  Usually, just giving the seed a cold treatment will work.  Place the seeds in a damp paper towel and put inside a baggie and store in the fridge for 3 months. Then remove the seeds from the cold fridge and plant one inch deep in a pot and place under 40-watt shop lights with temperatures around 75F.  The seeds should germinate in a couple of weeks. Or, plant the seeds in a pot and place the pot outdoors for the winter.  Make sure you water the pot if you're not having a weekly rain or snow.  The seeds will germinate in the spring after the last frost.  I hope this helps.
Tom