14 



their results with. Hubbard squash indicate that while the 

 seeds do not vary as widely as those of some other plants, 

 large seed gave more pounds and more numbers of edible squash- 

 Let tuoe responded very uniformly, the larger seed giv- 

 ing heavier heads and more salable ones. 



Effect of Large Seed on Germination. 



Kerpelley (25) found that the growth of plants from large 

 and fully developed wheat kernels was more uniform and vig- 

 orous and produced the largest number of seeds capable of 

 germinating. 



A. J.J. Vandevelde (26) reports on the germination of 

 1800 each of large, average and small seeds of peas, oats, 

 rye, wheat and barley. He states that the time required for 

 germination is longer for the large seed but only slightly 

 so. Total germinations were greater with small in every 

 case except barley. 



Cobb (27) Gives as an average of experiments with 

 twenty eight varieties of wheat these figures. Out of 

 two hundred seeds each, large seed showed 12.5 failures, 

 medium seed 18.6 and small seed 34.1 failures. This gives 

 almost three times as many failures in small as in large. 



Eiseninenger (28) found in experiments with spruce and 

 Scotch and Austrian pine that large seeds germinated quicker 

 and reached the period of maximum germination earlier than 

 small seeds. 



In certain experiments by !.. Slegrell (29) the author 

 points out the fact that with one exception the period re- 

 quired for germination increased with the specific gravity. 

 A comparison of germination by the heavier and lighter 

 kernels in the same head is given "by the Kansas State Agri- 



