108 AGRICULTURE. 



cate lot of one hundred seeds should be tested at the same 

 time under the same conditions and the results compared. 

 If the variation exceeds ten per cent, the tests should be 

 repeated until the source of error is discovered. Grasses 

 and very fine seed will require more care than other kinds. 

 Such seed should be barely covered with soil, while in all 

 cases too deep planting must be avoided. In testing grass 

 seeds, except timothy, care must be taken that the heavier 

 chaff, which looks like good seed, but does not contain a 

 grain, is not counted with the good seed. Every seed 

 should be gently pressed Vvith the finger-nail or with a 

 small penknife to determine whether or not it contains a 

 grain. The chaff should count as impurity, but should not 

 be tested for germination. Some hard-coated seeds may 

 be soaked a few hours in warm water, but as a usual thing 

 it is better not to do so. 



Seeds of clovers and most vegetables can be easily ger- 

 minated between two folds of damp flannel cloth placed be- 

 tween two plates. Such tests permit frequent inspection 

 of the seed, which should be thrown away as fast as it 

 germinates, count being kept of the same. Damp blotters, 

 porous dishes, and various kinds of especially prepared 

 germinating apparatus are sometimes used in seed-testing. 

 The amount of moisture to be given varies greatly with 

 the variety of seed and can be best learned by experience. 

 In general, quick-sprouting seeds, like clover, cabbage, 

 radish, etc., will stand more moisture than those varieties 

 which sprout more slowly. 



To make sure of the vitality of seed it is better to test it 

 in the soil, as previously suggested, and also by the cloth 

 or plate method. Soil tests should be continued a few days 

 longer than those made between cloth or blotters. There 

 is considerable difference of opinion as to the standards of 

 germination to which first-class seed should attain. Those 

 in use at present by the U. S. Department of Agriculture 

 are given in the first table on page 109. While first-class 

 seeds should reach the standards referred to, it may be said 

 that seed which falls as much as ten per cent below them 

 need not be rejected as bad. 



