On the Influences of Certain Conditions upon 

 the Sprouting of Seeds. 



TT is well known that germination of seeds is more or less in- 

 -^ fluenced by many comparatively trivial circumstances and 

 conditions ; yet there have been no general inquiries in this coun- 

 try into the exact effects of these conditions, or their importance 

 to the cultivator. Their relations to seed-testing have alwaj-s 

 seemed to the writer to be of special importance, and it is in this 

 direction that the present investigation has been undertaken. 

 Most of the published records of seed-tests are obviously nearly 

 valueless, because the}' take no account of the conditions of 

 test. This is particularly true of those cases in which germina- 

 tive vitality is recorded as low, for no assurance is given the read- 

 er that other or more careful management might not have in- 

 creased the percentages. The wTiter has found repeatedly that a 

 sample which gives very poor results under one treatment may 

 give good results under another. The notesof experiments which 

 follow may serve as suggestions to those who test ; at all events, 

 it is not too much to expect that the importance of care and uni- 

 formity in .seed-testing will be emphasized. It is not to be ex- 

 pected that laws can be announced as the results of these some- 

 what discursive tests, but indications may be safely drawn in 

 some instances. 



Seed-tests are of two sorts : the determination of the purity of 

 the sample as regards foreign material, as weed seeds, chaff, 

 dirt, and the like ; and the determination of the germinative vi- 

 tality. The former series of tests require a simple mechanical 

 separation of the ingredients of the sample.* 



Germinative vitality is commonly estimated by per cent, and 

 rapidity of sprouting. f Rapidity of sprouting is held to indicate 

 vigor or strength of seed, yet the results of many tests show that 

 it is even more influenced by conditions than is the ultimate per- 



* About a hundred packages of seeds have been carefully separated for 

 impurities, and it was the intention to present the figures in this paper, but 

 space will not permit. The results show that impurities in garden seeds are 

 trifling, , 



t The verb sprout is used in preference to gei'ininate, as germination is 

 complete only when the plantlet has assumed its true leaves and has begun 

 to assimilate. In seed-testing, the process is rarely carried to full germina- 

 tion. 



