240 PJiysiologiccd Pre-determination 



Table VIII. 



The Harmful Effect of Soaking Seeds in Excess of Water. 

 In these experiments the volume of water used was ten times that of the seed. 



1907, when two papers by Ebeihait(ii) and Schleh(33) respectively 

 appeared. These authors took up the question as it was left by Wollny 

 and Kraus. 



Eberhart at the iVgricultural Institute of the University of Jena 

 tested the effect upon yield of soaking seeds of barley and beans. The 

 result of a pot experiment carried out in triplicate with barley appeared 

 to be the same in every way as that obtained by Kraus and Wollny, 

 in other words, the soaking of the seed affected the whole course of 

 development and increased the final yield (Table IX). 



Table IX (after Eberhart). 



Soil. Clayey loam rich in humus. 



Kind of Seed. Barley (weight of 100 grains— 5-21 gm.). 



Date of Sowing. April 21st. 



Period of Soaking. 48 hours. 



Temperature of the water. 10° Cel. 



Tj ■ 7, /-TIT , ir ,r..r f From untreated seeds =av. 131 cm. 



Height of Plants on Mai/ IGlh. [ ^ . . , „ , ,„^ 



l^lirom seeds previously swelled = av. 15-9 cm. 



Harvest results {August 5th). 



Number of stems per pot 

 Average number of stems per plant 

 Average length of the stems ... 

 Average total weight of a plant 

 Average weight of heads per ])lant 

 Average weight of straw per plant 

 Average number of grains per plant 

 Average weight of the grains per plant 



