Aug. i 4 . 1916 Agricultural Value of Impermeable Seeds 785 



Table XI shows the calculated percentages of the impermeable seeds 

 which produced seedlings before and after the freezing of the soil, the 

 percentages which were recovered from the soil after the experiment, 

 and the percentages which decayed or were lost. 



1. From one-third to one-half of the impermeable seeds of alfalfa, 

 crimson clover, and okra produced seedlings during the first eight months, 

 while the flats remained in the greenhouse, but no crimson-clover seedlings 

 and only a few seedlings of the other species appeared after the periods 

 of freezing. 



2. A small percentage of the impermeable seeds of red clover, alsike 

 clover, white clover, and sweet clover produced seedlings in the first eight 

 months, and a considerably larger percentage after the freezing of the 

 soil. The seedling production after the freezing of the soil was particu- 

 larly large (61 per cent) with sweet clover. 



3. Only small percentages of the seeds were recovered from the soil 

 at the close of the experiment. Approximately one-fourth of the sweet- 

 clover seeds and approximately one-half of the seeds of the other species 

 of plants were unaccounted for. While undoubtedly a few of these were 

 lost, the majority of them must have softened and decayed during the 

 experiment. The surface of the soil was at times crusted, and toward 

 the end of the experiment much of it was thickly overgrown with moss. 

 These conditions probably prevented some seedlings from reaching the 

 surface even when the seeds germinated normally. 



PRODUCTION OF LEGUMINOUS SEEDLINGS IN THE FIELD COMPARED WITH 

 GERMINATION IN A GERMINATING CHAMBER 



In May, 191 2, and again in May, 191 3, field tests were conducted in 

 comparison with chamber germination tests. The soil used was a rich 

 sandy loam which held water well and was easily pierced by the young 

 seedlings. 



Table XII shows the percentages of impermeable seeds (determined in 

 chamber test), the percentages of chamber germination in from four to 

 eight days, and the percentages of seedling production in from ten to 

 twenty days. 



1. In the tests of 191 2 the percentages of germination were greater than 

 the percentages of seedling production in the field. However, those lots 

 which contained small percentages of impermeable seeds produced much 

 larger percentages of seedlings than those lots which contained large 

 percentages of impermeable seeds. 



2. There was a striking difference between those stands of plants 

 secured from lots of impermeable seed and those stands secured from 

 lots of seed but few of which were impermeable. Plate C\T shows this 

 difference for alsike-clover and white-clover plants produced in 191 2. 

 The photographs were taken about four months after the seeds were 



