280 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICL LTURAL SOCIETY. 



hesitation distributed to the nurseries. But when, after thirty 

 days, the result of the test was obtained, it showed that although 

 the seed had a purity of 92 80 per cent., it only had a Real 

 Value of 23 - 66 per cent. But the results of the sowing in the 

 nurseries was still worse, for after a dry and hot spring only 

 about 1 per cent, germinated. The reason that seed giving over 

 23 per cent, of Real Value may produce only 1 per cent, of plants 

 in the nursery, is because a sample of such poor quality contains 

 many seeds which will germinate under the favourable conditions 

 of a laboratory test, but which have not sufficient energy of 

 germination to overcome the influences of an unfavourable spring. 



In the following spring the nurseries, of course, got compensa- 

 tion for the amount paid for this seed. Supposing it had not 

 been tested, and perhaps only some of the nurseries had com- 

 plained, then it would have been very excusable if the seedsman 

 had blamed the dry spring, or everything else but the seed, for 

 the bad result. If this unfortunate year had not occurred, the 

 minimum Real Value of eighteen tests of P. alba for the years 

 1892-1893 to 1899-1900 would have been 75 per cent. 



Similar bad results with the seed of P. alba occurred in the 

 same year in several other places, and are attributable to too close 

 and energetic rubbing off of the wings, which has hurt the coat 

 or the tips of the seeds, and thereby rendered them liable to the 

 attack of mould. 



The Tables show that our Danish seed of Picea alba appears on 

 an average of twenty-six tests to contain 97*35 per cent, of clean 

 seed. If such a high degree of purity were not so much insisted 

 on, the seed would not need to be so hard cleaned, and would 

 therefore retain its power of germinating longer than now. 



I have only instanced these cases to show that the interests of 

 the seedsman and the seed-testing establishments are in harmony, 

 and that it is not correct to say that the seedsman necessarily 

 places himself in opposition to the seed-testing establishments, 

 and tries in every possible way to throw suspicion on them. 

 But unfortunately in many cases this charge against the seeds- 

 man is only too well justified, and it is now high time to 

 abandon the bad custom of selling by sample without also know- 

 ing something about the quality of the seed as determined by test. 



Having sold out the whole of my spruce seed, I bought in the 

 spring of 1900 from German Silesia another quantity from a 

 very fine sample.- In sending the order, I added that I assumed 



