132 



Plnjuioloyical Prc-dctcrniiitdtiou 



Author 

 Voelcker (73).. 



Nielsen (50) .. 



Description of experiments 



W'oburn iJot-culture experiments 

 with wheat and barley (1900-4). 

 (The Hill's experiments) 



Experiments with rye extending 

 over 10 years 



I. Using equal numbers of large 



and small grains 



II. Using eijual weights of large 



and small grains 



Average yield of seed- 

 grain 



Yield very slightly in 

 favour of the small 

 grain 



1. Very sUghtly in fa- 

 vour of the large 

 grains 



IJ. No marked differ- 

 ence in yield 



In conclusion we may quote the results of Hicks and Dabney(4i) 

 with cereals, which show clearly the eft'ect of seed-weight upon vigour, 

 although the experiments are not carried further than the seedling stage. 

 They found similar results Avith Vetch, Sweet Pea, and Radish. 



Table X. 



Experiments ivith Heavy and Light Seeds. 



Name and 

 variety 



Kaffir Corn 

 (red) 



Rye (Uni- 

 versity of 

 Minnesota, 

 No. 2) 



Oats (White 

 Wonder) 



Number of 

 seeds in 

 each lot 



100 



50 



Weight 

 of seeds* 

 in grams 



(A. 3-298 

 (B. 1-741 



(A. M05 

 "IB. 0-745 



Number 

 germinated 



A. 90) 



B. 49/ 



50 



Barley 



(Salzer's) 



50 



1-298 

 0-805 

 2-522 1 

 2-146 I 

 1-496 

 0-957 



A. 

 B. 



A. 

 B. 



45 1 

 45 f 



501 



49 1 



Number of 



plants 



weighed in 



each lot 



47 



45 



Number of 



days of 

 experiment 



39 



23 



Not 

 recorded 



49 



Equal 



number of 



each lot 



23 



Weight 

 of seed- 

 hngs in 

 grams 



(A. 220 

 IB. 13-0 



'A. 34-5 

 (B. 20-0 



fA. 37-2 

 B. 250 



A. 39-5 



B. 34-5 



C. 290 



D. 23-0 



,- , , numoer ot .,, -^ 



recorded i i ^ 19 | 



I each lot 



* A, heavy seed; B, hghter than A; C, hghter than B; U, hghter than C. 



Leaving cereals upon which most of the work dealing with differences 

 in yield resulting from the use of large and small seed has been carried 

 out, a few results may be quoted which show that the same fact, namely, 

 that more vigorous plants giving a bigger yield of leaf- and seed-crop 

 result from large seeds than from small, holds generally good in the case 

 of plants belonging to other families. 



As early as 1869 a very complete series of results was obtained by 

 Lehmann(t7) for peas. He showed that the capacity for germination was 

 greater in the case of the large seeds, but that, independently of the 

 percentage of germination, the yield per 100 plants from heavy seed 

 greatly exceeded that from the same number of plants from light seed. 



