74 



REPORT OF THE HORTICULTURIST OF 



value of seeds. With new and plump seeds there will be little or no differ- 

 ence, but if the seeds are old or weak the tester will generally show a slightly 

 higher per cent of germination. While the seed-tester is an invaluable aid 

 to the experimenter in testing the germinating power of seeds, the seed-box 

 or open ground, where they are sprouted under the same conditions as in 

 actual practice, will give more reliable testimony as to their real value. 

 The tests made this year show several things that are of interest: 



1. The seeds were, as a rule, well cleaned and free from foreign seeds. In 

 a few cases they were mixed with other varieties. 



2. No seedsman, so far as the tests went, is absolutely reliable. While all 

 of them furnished seeds of a high character as a general rule, packets were 

 frequently found that had a very low per cent of germination, — so low, in 

 fact, that if any reliance had been placed upon them for a crop a failure 

 would have resulted. 



Most seedsmen claim to test their seed before sending it out, and if it does 

 not germinate 50 to 75 per cent (varying with the kind of seed) it is not 

 sent out, and yet we find of the Autumn Giant Cauliflower not a single seed 

 sprouted, while the Dwarf Erfurt gave 90 per cent. The same was notice- 

 able in lettuce, where of the Boston Curled, from Henderson, only eleven 

 seeds sprouted, while Henderson's All the Year Round gave ninety-five 

 plants. 



In the tester the seeds of the different varieties were subjected to the same 

 conditions identically, while in the soil they were sown in parallel rows in 

 shallow seed-boxes. In some cases only three or four kinds, while in others 

 as many as ten or twelve, were placed in one box. 



In one instance the following results were obtained from the varieties of 

 lettuce in one box, one hundred seeds of each kind being used. 



The plants were sown on the 12th of March in boxes in the forcing house, 

 the dates of vegetation were taken, and on the 29th the plants were counted 

 and notes on their condition made. Twenty-seven other varieties of lettuce 

 were grown, and these showed fully as great a difference in the per cent of 

 germination. 



This must not be taken as an average test of the vitality of the seeds fur- 

 nished by the above seedsmen, as in other varieties the results may be just 

 the reverse. 



