266 FORTT-FOURTH REPORT ON THE STATE MUSEVM 



the seed until the last " {Introduc. Glass. Ins., i, 1839, p. 330). Dr. Fitch 

 had stated (see page 264) : " It is generally known that the pea- 

 weevil rarely injures the embryo or germ of the future sprout, and 

 that 'buggy peas' may consequently be used for seed." But even if 

 the germination was not seriously affected, the subsequent growth of 

 the plant is an equally important (and until lately overlooked) 

 consideration. 



Experiments in Germination of Weevil-eaten Seed. 



Professor Goff, formerly of the N. Y. State Agricultural Experiment 

 Station at Geneva, has made valuable experiments in this direction, of 

 which he has written:* "Our experiments showed that although pease 

 that have been inhabited by the weevil will frequently germinate, 

 they rarely make strong and productive plants. In one lot of fifteen 

 seeds only two vegetated, and but one made a vigorous plant. In an 

 experiment in germination with a larger number, 57.2 per cent of 

 ' buggy ' pease germinated." 



A still more disastrous result from insect injury is reported by 

 Professor Beal in the Country Gentleman for August 14, 1879, xliv, 

 p. 519, Of 500 weevil-eaten peas planted, only 26 per cent (130) 

 germinated, while of the same number of apparently sound peas, 

 only four failed to germinate. 



The pea containing but a single weevil, and the bean several — the 

 number, at times, being only limited by its capacity — it would naturally 

 be expected that the operations of the bean-weevil in interfering with 

 germination and subsequent growth would be the more disastrous of 

 the two. This, in part (so far as germination alone is considered), 

 is clearly shown by recent observations reported by Professor Popenoe, 

 as having been made in 1889, at the Kansas State Agricultural 

 Experiment Station, as follows: 



A large number of infested beans of different varieties were care- 

 fully examined, and the proportion of cases noted where the vital 

 part of the seed had suffex-ed material injury. This examination 

 showed many cases where the plumule was entirely cut through at 

 different points, and others again where the radicle was partially or 

 totally eaten up, and the cotyledons eaten from their attachments. 

 In the greater number of such cases, the injury was sufficient to pre- 

 clude healthy germination. 



Experiments Contradict Former Belief. 

 The statement — apparently quite at variance with the above obser- 

 vations — made by Professor Riley in his third Report on the Insects of 

 Missouri, in 1871, that he had "always found the germ either untouched 



* First Annual Report of the New York State Ag^Hcultural Experiment Station, 1883, p. 142 



