52 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



seed coat which he one against another without breaks between. The 

 outermost cells are overlaid with a cuticle which defies the entrance 

 of water (even when the latter is very abundant) through the "Hart- 

 schicht" into the ''Quellschicht" and on into the interior of the seed. 

 This "hard" condition of the seed coat varies widely with individuals, 

 from almost none to those where the delay occasioned thereby is so 

 long protracted that the seed at least from a practical standpoint must 

 be considered as infertile. 



In determining the fertility of seeds individuals which remain un- 

 swollen at the end of the test can not at once admissibly be rejected as 

 useless unless they show signs of decay. Nobbe has recommended 

 that a third of such seed (with clover and the like) which remained 

 fresh and hard after 10 to 13 days ifr the germination bed, should be 

 added to the germinated seed, in calculation of the percent of 

 fertility.- 



As with many other "hard shelled" seeds, Mcia villosa often holds 

 over on farmed fields until another crop has been planted, thus be- 

 coming a troublesome weed. This point has caused it to lose in favor 

 among farmers. 



The author describes his seed tests of Vicia villosa seed. Two 

 samples of 100 seeds each, one untreated and the other wounded 

 slightly on the tests with a small knife, were placed in an "Aubryschen" 

 germinating chamber in November, 1899. Plenty of moisture was 

 provided, with regular aeration, and with artificial heat in winter. 

 With the wounded seed, every one germinated in 17 days, while 60 

 per cent of the unwounded had germinated in that period, 85 per cent 

 in 3T days, 97 per cent in 1 year, 99 per cent in 5 years, and. 100 

 per cent or every seed had germinated after 12 years. The author 

 does not claim that results would have been proportionately entirely 

 alike had the seeds been sown in the open field, but thinks that the 

 course of germination would not have been greatly different. 



That in cases where the "hardshelled" condition of seed coat is 

 present normal germination will be induced at once by artificial wound- 

 ing of the seed coat has long been known. ^ Nobbe used this method 

 with success in 1871 with seed of Tetragonolobus purpurens (Kneifel- 

 robse). However, the wc^unding must be deep enough to penetrate 

 the hard layer. Lakon * found that a slight paring off of the cuticle of 

 seeds of Gladitsia triacanthos was ineffective but that after a deeper 

 filing the seed commenced to swell within a few hours. 



