206 Forestry Quarterly. 



A series of germination tests on a number 



Germination Tests of coniferous species made for several years 



of at the Austrian Experiment Station is pub- 



Conifers. lished by Cederbauer. The tests were made 



on clay plates with a temperature daily 



raised to 22 or 23 degrees C, sinking to 16 degrees. Other tests 



were made with filter paper in a germination chamber, keeping the 



temperature constant at 23 degrees C. The results in necessary time 



— of varying value according to the number of tests made — were as 



follows : 



Picea excelsa, pungens, omorika li days 



Picea nigra, sitkaensis 21 days 



Pinus nigra, hanlcsiana, rigida, halfouriana 11 days 



Pinus pinea, halepensis 21 days 



Pinus silvestris, murrayana 28 days 



Pinus strohus 30-40 days ( ?) 



Larix europaea 21 days 



Pseudotsuga 28 days 



Sequoia 1 1-2 1 days 



Tsuga mertensiana, pattoviana 21 days 



Chainaecyparis , various species 21 days 



Cupressus sempervirens 11 days 



Thuja gigantea 21 days 



Hence from 14 to 21 days are sufficient with most conifers, only 

 the pines requiring longer tin:ie. In Pinus strohus, after 30 to -10 

 days, the grains still found fresh should be added to determine the 

 germination per cent. For Abies the knife test alone is desirable. 



The germination is found by the author to be in relation to the 

 time of seedfall, those seeds which are shed in the fall germinating 

 very slowly, the ones falling in the spring or late winter germinating 

 rapidly. The seeds which remain in cones during the winter, un- 

 like those reaching the ground in the fall, find the conditions of 

 keeping in rooms but little different from tliose in nature; they are 

 easily kept and germinate readily at any time. Some, however, like 

 Abies, require a "seed rest" before germinating. Fir seed placed in 

 the germination chamber on November 12 did not germinate until 

 the middle of December; those placed there on December 15 began 

 to germinate on December 21. 



Die Keimprilfungsdaiier einiger Konifcren. Centralblatt fiir 

 das gesammte Forstv,-esen. July, 1906, p. 306-315. 



