334 Forestry Quarterly 



days, in moist sand, germinated only 8 and 27 per cent, re- 

 spectively. 



Besides temperature (25° C) and humidity, and even lighting 

 is desirable in germinating apparatus. This is secured by 32 

 candlepower electric light at 2 m average distance through 8 hours 

 daily, which is found sufificient. The tests are carried on usually 

 for 20 days in various apparatus, on blotting paper (Jacobsen), 

 clay plates (Cieslar), and wet sand. Clay dishes are specially 

 recommended for Douglas fir (40 days). White pine (60 days), 

 Chamaecyparis, Thuya, Betula ; blotting paper for spruce, Scotch 

 pine and larch. 



To expedite germination of White pine, the seed is kept for 

 30 days in a cold room near freezing point or colder, when germi- 

 nation in a Cieslar plate begins promptly, and in 30 days is fin- 

 ished. Incidentally, an experiment with fall sowing of White pine 

 produced considerably better results than spring sowing. 



Robinia, the application of boiling water, left for three minutes, 

 when after two days 50 per cent will be germinated and after 

 30 days 80 per cent. Since in practice only the rapidly germinat- 

 ing grains are of value, the determination of the germinative 

 energy, i. e., the number of seeds germinating in 8 to 10 days, is 

 of significance. The better the seed, the greater the energy as 

 shown by a series of tests. 



The average values secured during six years testing, for species 

 in which we might be interested or which might find equivalents 

 with our species, are given as follows : 



Per Cent Per Cent Per Cent 



Average Highest Lowest 



Abies pectinata 50 67 19 



Larix europaea 45 88 11 



Picea sitchensis 70 83 40 



P. excelsa 83 98 11 



Pinus divaricata 77 95 37 



P. silvestris 83 100 39 



P. strohus 60 100 19 



Pseudotsuga 65 83 43 



Acer platanoides 89 90 88 



Betula alba. 18 19 17 



Fraxinus excelsior 90 94 87 



Robinia 65 80 55 



Variations from year to year run for spruce from 74.6 to 92.3, 

 for Scotch pine from 79.2 to 88.7. The high per cent of the 



