55 



IV. INFLUENCES OF CHARACTER OF SOIL 



UPON SPROUTING. 



It is well known that texture of soil often has much to do with 

 the germination of seeds in the field. Soils which bake, which 

 become very drj', or which hold too much moisture, always tend 

 to give a poor "stand " of crop. But the soils u::ed in houses are 

 such as to occasion no thought of their influence upon germina- 

 tion ; yet there are cases in which such soils cause variation in 

 seed tests. This was particularly marked in a lot of beans which 

 we tested this spring. Samples happened to be sown at the same 

 time in potting soil on a bench, and under a cloth on the surface 

 sand. Those in soil gave much poorer germinations than the 

 others. Other sowings were therefore made from the same lot at 

 given depths in sand for purposes of comparison. The figures can- 

 not be presented in the limited space of this article, but it was 

 found that sproutings were in some cases nearly twice as many in 

 sand as in potting soil. More beans rotted in the soil than in the 

 sand. The soil had not been sifted, and it contained some ma- 

 nure, yet it was only four inches deep on the bench and it would 

 seem that the drainage was good. Our tests in this direction war- 



rant the following 



CONCLUSIONS. 



1. Variations in results of testing may sometimes be expected 

 in consequence of character of soil in which the tests are made. 



2. In the present instance, low results in potting soil as com- 

 pared with tests in sand, appear to be due to the greater amount 

 of water held in the earth, causing the seeds to rot. The results 

 may, therefore, be studied in connection with those upon the influ- 

 ence of varying amounts of watering. (Cf. § II.) 



