Periodical Literature. 331 



seed in cool, open boxes and shoveling them over, apparently to 

 prevent heating, is condemned. Just as Cieslar has shown in 

 similar experiments, storing in airtight receptacles is most favor- 

 able to maintaining germination per cent, and germinative energy. 

 After two or three years, seed stored in such manner produced 

 1.6 to 3.3 times the number of plants as the same seed stored in 

 open air under most favorable conditions. After three years such 

 seed had lost from 16 to 68 per cent, of germination, while seed 

 kept airtight still showed nearly 90 per cent. The loss in the 

 former was especially noticeable when originally poor seed was 

 involved. Hence, airtight storage is not only desirable for first- 

 class seed, but especially for seed which is difficult to keep. Such 

 storage should, however, not be made in rooms in which the tem- 

 perature can rise much, if even only temporarily, especially if the 

 seed is not first fully, yet not too thoroughly, dried. The degree 

 of dryness attained by being placed for a few days in the sun or in 

 a well warmed room until the weight of the seed is decreased 1 to 

 2 per cent, may be the most favorable. 



A sample of the tabulation will give an insight into the changes 

 in germination per cent and germinative energy that take place 

 under different conditions, the germination period being 10 to 28 

 days, the drying having been done in chlor-potash exsiccator for 

 seven days. 



EARLY HARVEST OF 1905-6. 



In Air-tight Bottles 

 Exposed to In Warmed In Unzvarmed 



Air in Room Room In Cellar 



5^ 



,-« 



Germination Per Cents. 



90-96 90-96 90-96 90-96 90-96 90-96 90-96 90-96 90-96 



1 49-83 62-90 83-96 81-95 73-94 80-96 77-96 



2 32-44 46-71 61-90 60-89 64-91 67-90 68-92 68-94 68-91 



3 18-21 32-46 66-83 61-81 71-91 69-93 66-93 69-93 76-91 

 3 (The last year kept on ice) 78-85 84-92 



Keeping seed on ice in airtight bottles proved under all condi- 

 tions an improvement over other methods, especially as regards 

 germinative energy. This, as some experiments showed, may be 

 due to the fact that the cold inhibits the carbonic acid formation 



