METHODS OF MAKING GEKMINATION TESTS. 11 



PACKING FOR TRANSPORTATION. 



Too much care can not be given to the matter of packing the seed 

 for transportation, for unless the packing is properly done the vitality 

 of the seed will be destroyed during transit. What is here said applies 

 to fresh seed which is to be sown in the autumn, as well as to seed 

 which has been kept in cold storage during the winter. It must not 

 be forgotten, however, that the vitality of cold-storage seed is more 

 quickly destro3'ed on drying than that of fresh seed. 



For transportation the seed should be carefully packed, with moist 

 sphagnum, cocoaniit liber, or fine excelsior, in a loosel}^ slatted box. 

 If the time of transportation does not exceed five or six days no spe- 

 cial precautions need be taken as to the temperature. During the 

 period of transportation it is quite probable that some of the seed will 

 germinate, but if sown at once growth will not be retarded and the 

 roots will soon penetrate the soil and anchor the young plants. 



If the time of transportation is necessarily long, it is reconnnended, 

 if the best results are desired, that some provision be made for a 

 reduced temperature. The nearer the temperature approaches that of 

 freezing the better. It has been demonstrated, however, that a fair 

 percentage of seed will remain germinable for a considerable time if 

 packed as above described. 



On October 10, 1904, Mr. C. S. Scofield sent a small quantity of 

 wild rice, packed in moist sphagnum moss in a well-ventilated box, to 

 Doctor De Vries, of Amsterdam, Holland. On October 14 or 15 this 

 box was placed in cold storage on the steamer in New York Harbor. 

 The box of seed was received b}^ Doctor De Vries in good condition on 

 November 2, twenty-one days after the seed was packed for shipment. 



METHODS OF MAKING GERMINATION TESTS. 



The samples were tested (IJ between folds of blotting paper — our 

 regular method for testing the germination of most seeds — and (2) in 

 water, Nature's method of sowing wild rice seed. The latter method 

 gave much better results and was the one finalh^ adopted for the 

 laboratory tests. The seed should be covered with water, the water 

 in the dishes to be changed daily. 



Plate I shows the importance of making the germination tests in 

 water, as described in the foregoing paragraph. The seed was covered 

 with water and placed in a germinating chamber maintained at an 

 alternating temperature of 20- C. {iiS'-' F.) for eighteen hours, and 

 30'^ C. (84^ F.) for six hours, until the majority of the seeds had 

 germinated. At this stage the dish containing the seeds was trans- 

 ferred to the worktable, which was exposed to the temperature of the 

 laboratory — approximately that of a living-room. The water in the 



