B. P. I.— 165. 



THE VITALITY OF BURIED SEEDS. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The preservation of the vitality of seeds when buried in the soil 

 and the awakening of metabolic activit}^ in such seeds on being- 

 exposed to conditions favorable to their germination are equally as 

 important to the practical farmer as to the scientist. The intelligent 

 farmer in order to combat noxious plants successfully should know 

 how much time must elapse after heavy crops of weeds of various 

 sorts are turned under before the ground can be plowed again with 

 safety. He should also know what plants he can hope to eradicate in 

 this way, for with many of our worst weeds this method would result 

 only in failure. In fact, the reason why the majority of our most 

 persistent weeds are so difficult to eradicate is because their seeds are 

 capable of retaining their vitality for a number of yeai'S when buried 

 in the soil. It thus becomes important to know how different species 

 of seeds behave when buried under similar conditions, and how seeds 

 of the same species behave when buried under different conditions. 



KINDS OF SEEDS BURIED. 



So much has already been written on the germination of seeds that 

 have remained dormant in the soil for a number of 3^ears, in some 

 cases even for centuries, that it seemed desirable to determine with 

 some degree of accuracy the length of time that certain seeds will 

 retain their vitality when buried in the soil under known conditions. 

 Accordingly, in the autumn of 1902, 112 different samples of seeds 

 were selected for these experiments, as follows: 



Table I. — List uf seetU selected fur the experiments. 



Labora- 

 tory 

 test 

 num- 

 ber. 



16173 

 16171 

 16175 

 16176 

 16177 

 16178 

 16179 

 16180 

 16181 

 16182 

 161.S3 

 16184 



Kind of seed. 



Poaceee (grass family): 



Agropyron rcpens (L.) Beauv. (couch grass) 



Avtna Jatua L. (wild oat) 



Avenn sat/ra L. (oats) 



Bromus i<ccalinus L. (cheat, chess) 



Bromus racemostis L. (upright chess, smooth brome-grass) 



Chaftochlna verticillata (L.) Scribn. (foxtail) 



Chatftochlna (ilaiica (L.) Scribn. (yellow foxtail) 



Chaetorhlon viridh [h.) Scribn. (green foxtail) 



Elfusineindira (L.) Gaertn. (wire-grass, crab-grass) 



E/i/mus virgininis L. ( Virginia wild rye) 



Eh/miix rmiadensis L. (no(iding wild rye) 



Elymus trilkoides Buckl. (wild wheat) 



