TESTING THE GERMINATIVE CAPACITY OF SEEDS 99 



There are a number of germinators on the market, but, if one 

 is not available, a box of moist soil or sand, or moist rags which 

 are rolled up with the seeds within are good germinators when 

 properly handled. (Fig. 93.) A very good germinator is made 

 with two dinner plates and blotting paper as shown in Figure 94- 



During the test a temperature suitable for the germination of 

 the kind of seeds involved must be maintained. Some prefer to 

 keep the temperature near that of the soil, so as to more nearly 



FIG. 93. Rag doll testers, consisting of moist rags properly labeled and 

 rolled up with the seeds within. After H. D. Hughes. 



imitate the soil conditions under which most seeds do not germi- 

 nate so well as they do in germinators. The germinator should 

 be opened each day to note the germinated seeds and to allow the 

 entrance of fresh air, if ventilation is not otherwise provided. At 

 the end of the germinative period, the results are usually ex- 

 pressed in percentages found by dividing the number of germinated 

 seeds by the number in the lot and multiplying by 100. Thus if 



190 of a lot of 200 germinated, ~^^p- = 95 P er cent - The 

 percentage of germination will vary for different lots and the 



