SEED INSPECTION 



29 



STUDIES OF FLOWER SEEDS 



Section 261 H 



Conducted by the Seed Laboratory* 



In 1956, floAver seed studies were again made by the Seed Laboratory. This 

 makes the twenty-first year sueh field studies have been made to determine the 

 quality of flower seed offered for sale in various retail outlets and to flower growers 

 throughout the State. Seed of 375 lots, representing 57 genera packeted by 25 

 wholesalers or distributors, were obtained from 72 retailers or grower sources by 

 the State Seed Inspectors. All samples, except two of Stalice, were given germina- 

 tion tests in the laboratory, and all lots, except 23, were given trueness-to-type 

 tests in the field. Of the 23 lots not tested in the field 6 were biennials, 1 Lathyrus, 

 2 Ipomea, 1 Helianthus, 11 Delphinium and 2 Lupinus. 



Ageratuin 8 



Alyssum 19 



Amaranthus 2 



.\nchusa 1 



.Antirrhinum 9 



Calendula 10 



Caliopsis 5 



Callistephus 26 



Celosia 6 



Centaurea Cyanus. ... 13 

 Ceiitaurea Imperalis. . .1 



Cheiranthus 1 



Chrysanthemum 2 



Clarkia 2 



Cleome 3 



Cosmo.^ 17 



Cynoglossum 1 



Dahlia 6 



Dianthus 7 



Dimorphotheca 2 



Eschscholtzia 4 



Euphorbia 1 



Gallardia 2 



Godctia 3 



Gypsophila 4 



Helianthus 1 



Helich'ysum 7 



Iberis 6 



Impatiens '5 



Linaria 2 



Linum 3 



Mathiola 3 



Mirabilis 2 



Molucella 1 



Nemophila 3 



Nicotiana 3 



Nigella 1 



Petunia 18 



Phlox 8 



Portulaca 12 



Reseda 2 



Salpiglossis 2 



Salvia 2 



Scabiosa 10 



'Statice 2 



Ta!?etes 34 



Tithonia 1 



Tropaeolum 7 



Verbena 4 



Zinnia 55 



All the flow^ers were planted June 7. Seeds were sown in 10-foot sections in the 

 row and in all instances, one packet of seed was sufficient to plant the desired sedtion. 

 Germination tests were made in the laboratory for all samples of seed except two 

 lots of Statice. The results of the germination tests are listed in Table 5 for samples 

 found unsatisfactory in the field. 



The weather during the field trials was good. No severe storms occurred during 

 the critical germination period which allowed for optimum conditions for germina- 

 tion, and the cool summer provided ideal growing weather for most of the flowers. 



The labelling found on the flower seed packets sold throughout the State was excel- 

 lent. Several mixtures were found to be poor but were better in general than those 

 (if other years. It is not the policy of the laboratory to make a rating on any of the 

 fii-Id test work, but rather to check on the labelling as stated on the packet in com- 

 parison with the actual field performance. 



The following table Hsts those samples that were found in the field test and that 

 differed in performance from that stated on the seed packet. 



* Waldo C. Lincoln, Jr., Research Instructor 

 Paul Karpita, Laboratory Assistant 



