SEED INSPECTION 19 



STUDIES OF FLOWER SEEDS 



Conducted by the Seed Laboratory 

 Waldo C. Lincoln, Jr., Laboratory Assistant 



This is the eightcentli year in which flower seed studies have been conducted by 

 the Seed Laboratory to determine the quality of fiower seed ofTered for sale in 

 various retail outlets. Seed of 392 lots, representing 65 genera, packeted by 26 

 wholesalers or distributors, were obtained from 149 retail sources by the Seed 

 Inspector. All samples were given germination tests in the laboratory, but 70 

 samples were not tested in the field. One of these 70 was Calonyction (Moon- 

 flower), one was Ipomea (Morning Glory), one Azalea, two Lathyrus (Sweet 

 Pea), two perennials, and the remaining 63 samples, not tested in the field, were 

 the very small seeded or the long germinating types. 



The lots field-tested were distributed among the various genera as follows : 



Acrolinium 1 Cosmos 17 Martynia 1 



Ageratum 6 Convolvulus 1 Mirabilis 1 



Alyssum 16 Cynoglossum 3 Nemesia 1 



Amaranthus 2 Dimorphotheca 1 Nicotiana 5 



Anchusa 2 Dianthus 2 Papaver 5 



Arctotis 2 Eschscholtzia 12 Phlox 2 



Browallia 1 Euphorbia 1 Portulaca 8 



Calendula 14 Gaillardia 6 Reseda 2 



Calliopsis 2 Godetia 4 Scabiosa 6 



Callistephus 24 Gypsophila 3 Statice 1 



Celosia 6 Helianthus 4 Tagetes 42 



Centaurea cyanus 10 Helichrysum 4 Tithonia 3 



Centaurea imperalis . . 1 Hunnemannia 1 Tropaeolum 17 



Clarkia S Iberis 6 Verbena 9 



Cleome 4 Impatiens 7 Vinca 1 



Cladanthus 1 Kochia 1 Zinnia 48 



Dates of sowing were June 4 and 5. Seeds were sown in twenty-foot sections 

 in the row with the exception of Alyssum, Iberis, and Portulaca, which were 

 sown in ten-foot sections. In most cases, the quantity of seed was sufficient to 

 plant the desired section. 



Germination tests were made in the laboratory for all samples of seed. The 

 results of the laboratory germination are listed in Table 5 only for samples that 

 gave few or no plants in the field or with good germination but found otherwise 

 unsatisfactory. 



The extreme dry weather during the entire period did not afTect the trial 

 grounds, since there w^as no sign of injury due to dryness throughout the entire 

 testing period. Planting was delayed for about ten days because of unusually 

 heavy rainfall prior to the planting season. The following table lists only 

 those samples that were found in the field tests to differ in performance from 

 that stated on the seed packet. 



