3 66 



COMMON WEEDS 



paper or flannel (the latter should be washed, and, after 

 soaking in tepid water, squeezed sharply), and finally 

 deposited on an unglazed earthenware saucer, stood in 

 a shallow plate or other vessel of water, and covered 

 with a similar porous saucer. A useful seed-testing 

 vessel is that shown in Fig. 103 ; this may be covered 





Photo, 1909. 



H. C. Long. 



FlG. 103. Seed-testing Vessel, of porous ware, with cover (perforations in cover 



not shown). 



with a perforated cover or with a glass disc, and is 

 stood in a shallow saucer of water. Seeds so treated 

 and placed in a moderately warm room will, if of good 

 quality, germinate readily. (For the periods necessary 

 for germination see p. 371.) The seeds must not be 

 too close together ; saucers of different sizes are used 

 generally according to the size of the seeds to be 

 tested. It will be found that thin, apparently empty 

 seeds do not germinate at all, and very old seed 

 germinates very irregularly or not at all. With high- 

 class well-filled seeds, germination is regular and 



