56 CONTROL SERIES No. 92 



Type and Variety Studies of Vegetables 



Conducted in Conjunction with the Department of Vegetable Gardening 

 Professor Grant B. Snyder 



A large majority of home gardeners buy their vegetable seeds from the neigh- 

 borhood store. The commercial grower may also buy from this source if he runs 

 short or has forgotten to order a certain crop from his regular seedsman. These 

 various stores and shops in the neighborhood community are, therefore, im- 

 portant sources of garden seeds. 



It has been found that in a fair percentage of cases, seed purchased from these 

 sources has been variable in germination and in trueness to name. In order to 

 definitely check the performance of packet and bulk seed sold by these mer- 

 chants, the Department of Vegetable Gardening has cooperated with the Seed 

 Laboratory in making germination tests and in checking the trueness to name of 

 samples purchased on the open market by state inspectors. 



Some 168 lots were included in the field trials, comprising beans, beets, car- 

 rots, cucumbers, lettuce, onions, peppers, parsnips, parsley, radishes, spinach, 

 squash, sweet corn, tomatoes, cabbage and turnips. 



Field notes on germination indicated fairly good vitality in practically all lots. 

 The various lots were mostly within the type range for the variety specified on 

 the seed packet. The most definite variation was noticed on the root crops of 

 carrots and beets. Some sources of carrots had a definite mixture of types from 

 the short Chantenay through the Nantes to the longer Hutchinson. The beets 

 varied from the top to flat types in the lots of a few of the individual sources. 



Seeds with most of these stores are a side line. The person selling them has 

 little or no knowledge of what is being sold other than the information printed 

 on the packet and the price. The conditions under which the seed is stored and 

 displayed are too frequently very poor, resulting in poor germination when 

 planted in the garden. Most of the varieties sold are standard sorts. Newer 

 improved varieties are generally not listed. 



In the following tables, unless otherwise noted, the named varieties were 

 within the type range. 



