— 41 — 



5- Greater rapidity of sprouting- does not appear to be correlated 

 with greater per cent, of total sprouting. 



6. Constant temperature, of the degree here mentioned, does 

 not appear to give greater percentages of sprouting ; at least, the 

 variation in this respect between the constant and variable tem- 

 peratures is no greater than that which is usually obtained from 

 tests conducted under identical conditions. In the seven tests 

 with beans, however, there is an average gain of 5 per cent, in 

 favor of those under constant temperature. 



II. INFLUENCES OF DIFFERENT QUANTI- 

 TIES OF WATER UPON SPROUTING. 



Mr. W. W. Tracy, of Detroit, well known as an expert 

 in the handling and testing of seeds, once said to me that 

 he rarely obtained the same results from different tests of the 

 same sample, if made in houses under the care of different 

 men. He attributed this variation mostly to the various amounts 

 of water habitually used by the different men. Acting upon 

 this suggestion, a number of very careful tests have been made 

 in weighing the amounts of water used. The results have been 

 the most marked of any which have ever come under my no- 

 tice in the testing of seeds. 



The tests were all made side by side in a forcing-house, unless 

 otherwise recorded, in earthen pans. The soil, with one excep- 

 tion, was a good quality of light potting earth, containing a good 

 admixture of field sand. Although the pans were very shallow, 

 extra drainage was given by the use of broken pots. The sam- 

 ples which received the most water were rarely wet enough to 

 drip ; in fact, they had no more water than is given in many 

 houses. The pans .sparingly watered were drier than they would 

 be kept in most houses. The 8-inch round lily-pans are ^% in. 

 deep. The lo-inch seed-pans are 2}4. in. deep, and the 12-inch 

 pans 3 in. deep. 



