﻿88 



MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN. 



a question what depth is the best suited to this purpose. With 

 this in view, an experiment was undertaken in the fall of 1906. 



Having obtained fresh seed from the vicinity of St. Louis, 

 through the kindness of Mr. 0. S. Ledman of the Luyties 

 Pharmaceutical Co., it was sown on August 15, 1906, in lots 

 of 25 in 5-inch pots, containing a mixture of equal parts loam, 

 sand and leaf-mold, which filled the pots to within one inch 

 from the top. The seed was then covered by ^ inch of the 

 same mixture. Eight pots, thus prepared, were arranged in 

 a box in such a manner that the surface of the soil in the first 

 pot was exactly ^ inch, and that of the soil in the eighth pot 

 was exactly 7| in. below the top of the box, and the seeds 



TABLE B. 



Depth 

 in inches 

 below 

 surface. 



Number 

 germinated. 



Not germ. but 

 in good cond. 



Total germ, or 

 in good cond. 



Number 

 decayed. 



ber not 

 for. 



Total number 

 dec. or not 

 acc, for. 



No. 



% 



No 



% 



No. 



% 



Num 

 acc. 



No. 



% 



1 



2 



8 



0 



0 



2 



8 



6 



17 



23 



92 



2 



10 



40 



1 



4 



11 



44 



12 



2 



14 



56 



3 



12 



48 



0 



0 



12 



48 



8 



5 



13 



52 



4 



6 



24 



3 



12 



9 



36 



16 



0 



16 



64 



5 



14 



56 



0 



0 



14 



56 



7 



4 



11 



44 



6 



8 



32 



1 



4 



9 



36 



10 



6 



16 



64 



7 



14 



56 



0 



0 



14 



56 



11 



0 



11 



44 



8 



8 



32 



0 



0 



8 



32 



13 



4 



17 



68 



RESULTS OBTAINED BY SOWING SEEDS OF HYDRASTIS IN 

 LOTS OF 25 EACH AT DEPTHS VARYING FROM ONE TO EIGHT INCHES. 



respectively 1 and 8 inches below the top. The other pots 

 were so placed between these two that each stood exactly 

 one inch lower than did its predecessor. The remaining 

 space was then filled with a mixture of leaves and old horse- 

 manure containing much straw. The box was placed in a 

 well-drained cold frame. After the cold weather set in, the 

 frame was covered during the night with a sash, which was 

 always removed during the daytime, except when extreme 

 cold prevailed, or during heavy snow or rainstorms. Thus 

 it was hoped to reproduce natural conditions as advanta- 

 geously as possible. The box was watered slightly from time 

 to time, as was deemed advisable. 



