110 



AGRICULTURAL EXPERBIENT STATION. 



Comparative Results of Garden Seeds Germinated. 



The complaint about coraraission garden seeds is hardly sustained 

 by our experiments. Emerson's seeds, the only ones tested, make 

 a fair average showing. The lettuce seed was very poor, only ten 

 per cent sprouted. The turnip seed was the best examined and the 

 cabbage and beet seed were excelled only by varieties from the 

 department of agriculture. The onion seeds were superior. The 

 cai rot seed was the poonst examined and the tardy ge;mination 

 showed it was old. The fieshness of the garden seeds from the 

 department of agriculture is shown by their early germination and 

 good germination per cent. 



The garden seeds, Nos. 1 to 51, vary considerably. Farmers and 

 gardeners find it difficult to get these kind of seeds to "come up" 

 well Although at times it may be due to unfavorable conditions of 

 the soil or weather, it is more often due to the seed. If poor seeds 

 are planted, poor results are certain. Beet seed is one of the hardest 

 to sprout. By comparing the beet seed of different dealers, we find 

 the range from 18, to 94. more than five times as man}' in one case, 

 as in the other, and of greater vitality, as is shown by the number 



