130 ILLINOIS STATE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



Out of the 75 seedlings in the group in question, 29 are 

 from small, 36 from medium and 10 from large seeds. Of 

 the 29 seedlings from small seeds, regardless of their posi- 

 tion on the first day, 14 are in Quintile I, 14 are in Quintile 

 II and 1 is in Quintile III on the last day. The final distri- 

 bution of the seedlings from the large seeds is 4 in Quin- 

 tile V, 4 in Quintile IV and 2 in Quintile III. From the 

 foregoing statements the following conclusions seem 

 justified : 



(1) Seedlings which are small at first frequently sur- 

 pass in growth, larger ones of equal age; 



(2) The size and specific gravity of the seeds, chiefly 

 the former, are more definitely correlated with growth 

 than is the initial height of seedlings of the same age. 



SUMMARY 



Common garden bean seed was separated into 6 groups 

 of different densities by the use of sodium nitrate of 1.32, 

 1.27, 1.22, 1.17, and 1.12 specific gravity. The seeds of each 

 of the densities were then grouped according to length into 

 small, medium and large. 



Seedlings from seeds of each size and density were grown 

 in the dark at 25° C. Seedlings from small and medium 

 seeds of each density were also grown in the dark at 20° 

 and 30°. 



Daily measurements were taken and from this data the 

 daily growth increments were determined. When growth 

 ceased both the fresh and the dry weight of the seedling 

 was obtained. 



A study of the results made evident that: 



(1) Seedlings grown from seeds of 1.32, 1.27, 1.22, 

 1.17, 1.12 and 1.12- specific gravity differ in amount and 

 rate of growth. 



(2) The greatest height and diameter of shoot, also the 

 greatest dry weight, for seedlings from seeds of uniform 

 size is found in those grown from seeds of 1.22, 1.27 and 

 1.32 specific gravity, seeds of 1.22 or 1.27 usually ranking 

 first. 



