B. P. I.— 70C. 



the germination of packeted vegetable 



seeds; 



INTRODUCTION. 



There is probably no subject relating to the cultivation of the 

 soil in which so many persons are interested as in the home vegetable 

 garden, since suburban and country residents generally depend on 

 their gardens for a supply of vegetables throughout the major por- 

 tion of the 3'ear. The garden is a place of interest to all the family, 

 and here children with a small plat to call their own frequently get 

 their first real acquaintance with plant life. 



From both the educational and the practical standpomt it is im- 

 portant that the home garden should be planted with seeds winch 

 germinate well. The market gardener who uses large quantities of 

 seeds can test them or have them tested for germination before 

 planting and regulate the rate of seeding according to their vitality, 

 but this is not practicable with the small packets used in planting the 

 home garden. Most of the seeds used in planting such gardens are 

 bought in packets either from local stores where box seeds are offered 

 for sale, or they are ordered by mail after consulting the catalogue 

 of a favorite seedsman. 



Box seeds are put up in showy packets, lithographed m colors, and 

 packed in boxes containing collections of all the common kinds and 

 varieties of vegetables. These are sold outright to local stores or 

 are sent to them to be sold on commission. 



SEEDS TESTED FOR GERMINATION. 



During the years 1907, 1908, 1909, and 1910 box seeds were pur- 

 chased and tested for germination, and in 1911 seeds were bought 

 from firms whose principal business is filling mail orders from cata- 

 logues. A summary of the results is shown in Table I. 



> During the past five years a series of tests has been carried on to determine the vitality of packeted 

 vegetable seeds. Germination tests have been made of 18,571 packets, about one-third of them having 

 been purchased from mail-order houses in 1911, and the other two-thirds bought at local stores where box 

 seeds were sold, in 1907, 190S, 1909, and 1910. The germination of the mail-order and box seeds was 77.5 

 and 00.5 per cent, respectively. The seeds purchased from diflerent mail-order houses were more nearly 

 uniform in quality than the box seeds. The average germination of box seeds put up by one firm for four 

 years was less than one-half that of those put up by another firm. The low vitality of many of the seeds 

 tested is the best evidence that such .seeds should be sold with a guaranty as to the percentage of germina- 

 tion.— B. T. Gallow'av, Chief of Bureau. 



54011°— Cir. 101—12 3 



