SEED INSPECTION 



31 



STUDIES OF FLOWER SEEDS 



Section 261 H 



Conducted by the Seed Laboratory* 



Nineteen fifty-five marks the twentieth year in which flower seed studies have been 

 conducted by the Seed Laboratory to determine the quality of flower seed offered for sale 

 in various retail outlets and to flower growers throughout the State. Seed of 363 lots, 

 representing 49 genera packeted by 24 wholesalers or distributors, were obtamed from 140 

 retailers or grower sources by the State Seed Inspectors. All samples, except four, were 

 given germination tests in the laboratory, and all lots, except 24, were given trueness-to- 

 type tests in the field. The lots not laboratory tested were three garden mixtures and 

 one lot of Statice. Of the 24 lots not tested in the field, 7 were perennials, 9 biennials, 

 4 Ipomeas, and 4 Lathyrus: 



Ageratum 7 



Alyssum 6 



Antirrhinum 6 



Calendula 13 



Callistephus 28 



Celosia 4 



Centaurea 12 



Convolvulus 1 



Chrysanthemum 3 



Clarkia 2 



Cleome 2 



Cosmos 17 



Cynoglossum 1 



Delphinium 10 



Dianthus 4 



Didiscus 1 



Eschscholtzia 5 



Godetia 1 



Gomphrena 1 



Gypsophila 3 



Helianthus 6 



Helichrysum 2 



Hunnemania 1 



Iberis 5 



Impatiens 4 



Kochia 1 



Linaria 1 



Lobelia 1 



Mathiola 4 



Mirabilis 1 



Nicotiana 1 



Papaver 4 



Petunia 24 



Phlox 8 



Portulaca 5 



Reseda 1 



Rudbeckia 2 



Salvia 4 



Scabiosa 9 



Statice 1 



Tagetes 46 



Tithonia 1 



Tropaeolum 16 



Verbena 3 



Zinnia 59 



Wild Flower Mixture. . . .3 



r^ Dates of sowing were June 2 and 3. Seeds were sown in 15-foot sections in the row 

 with the exception of Ageratum, Alyssum, Antirrhinum, Chrysanthemum, Clarkia, Con- 

 volvulus, Cynoglossum, Dianthus, Didiscus, Godetia, Hunnemania, Iberis, Linaria, Lobelia, 

 Mathiola, Petunia, Phlox, Portulaca, Reseda, Rudbeckia, Scabiosa, Statice and Verbena, 

 which were sown in 10-foot sections. In most instances, one packet of seed was sufficient 

 to plant the desired section. 



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

 flower mixtures and one lot 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 quite variable. During the critical field germina- 

 tion period the weather was good, but thereafter followed a long period of extremely hot 

 weather. The combination of wet heavy land with the hot temperatures was conducive to 

 a heavy incidence of disease. Notable in this case were the Delphinium, Callistephus, 

 and Iberis. The Tagetes were extremely late in flowering, but with the first killing frost 

 carrying well into October, all necessary records were obtained. The following table 

 lists those samples that were found in the field test that differed in performance from that 

 stated on the seed packet. 



* Waldo C. Lincoln. Jr., Research Instructor 

 Paul Karpita, Laboratory Assistant 



