12 



Phyfilological Pre-determmation 



Swollen seeds of Sprino 

 Wheat; these seeds had 

 been previously soaked 

 in water for (i hours at 

 30° C. and wore after- 

 wards sown in the open 



Swollen seeds of SPRINO^^ 

 Rye; previously soakinl 

 in water at 30° C. for: 



1 hour I 



3 hours ; 



5 „ I 



7 „ I 



8 „ ; 



Swollen seeds of Sprixo 

 Rye; soaked in water at 

 30° C. for 72 hours and 

 then sown in the soil 



Swollen seeds of Spring 

 Wheat: previously soak- 

 ed for a minutes 

 Placed in germination 

 dishes 



Swollen seeds of Sprtno 

 Wheat; previously soak- 

 ed for T) minutes 

 Placed in germination 

 dishes 



32 mm. 



2 mms. 

 10 „ 

 30 „ 



10 cm. 



40 cm. 



2 cm. 



32 mm. 



15 mins. 



40 mm. .30 mins. 



r Increased growth was ob- 



I tained particularly after 



j the 2 minute and 10 



t minute periods * 



* This experiment was 



repeated with similar 



results 



The best results upon sub- 

 sequent growth were ob- 

 tained with the seeds 

 which had been soaked 

 in water for 0, 7, and 8 

 hours respectively 



Resulted in an increase in 

 (jertainitlinii poioer and in 

 growth energy 



27 mm. 2 



10 

 20 

 30 



12 mm. 

 22 



27 ," 

 32 „ 

 40 . 

 no .. 



) No acceleration in ger- 

 ( mination 



( Considerable delay in ger- 

 ( mination 



10 mi ns. Results : small acceleration 



„ at lower voltages; slight 



,, injui'y at moderate volt- 



„ ages; decided injury at 



„ high tensions {i.e. with 



„ spark lengths of 40 mm. 

 and 50 mm.) 



According to Micheels and De Heen (23) the action of a high frequency 

 alternating current upon wheat and pea seeds, which had previously 

 been soaked in water for 24 hours, favourably affected the development 

 of the seedlings, but unfortunately their observations extended over a 

 few days only. 



{(I) X-RAYS. 



Increased vigour of germination and increased growth of the resulting 

 plant, so far as it has been followed, has been recorded by several 

 authors as the result of brief treatment of the seeds to X-rays. An 

 example may be quoted. Promsy and Drevon(3i) found that exposure 

 of swollen seeds for |-1 hour to the influence of X-rays markedly 

 increased the subsequent growth of the seedlings. This action of the 

 X-rays occurred only when the seeds were kept at a relatively high 

 temperature (40° C. circa) duiing the exposure. For details with regard 

 to the rays used and the conditions of exposure, which were carefully 

 recorded by the investigators, reference should be made to the origin;! 1 

 paper. The following table (Table TX) lins Ix'cn based upon the icsults 

 ()l)tained bv Promsv and Drevon : 



