PREFACE. 



Because of variation in the amount and qualitj- of each year's crop 

 it is frequently necessary for seedsmen to carry over large quantities 

 of seeds from one year to another. Such seeds often lose their ability 

 to germinate, and either are a loss to the seedsman or, if they are 

 marketed, cause still more serious losses to those who plant them. 

 Since 1899 Mr. Duvel has been engaged in a general investigation of 

 the causes affecting the vitality of seeds, with special reference to the 

 conditions under which they are stored commercially. This investiga- 

 tion was begun in 1899 under the Dexter M. Ferry Botanical Fellow- 

 ship at the University of Michigan, and since September 1, 1902, it 

 has been continued by the United States Department of Agriculture. 

 An account of the whole study is presented herewith. 



The general method pursued has been to store seeds experimentally 

 under all sorts of conditions, and afterward to ascertain the exact per- 

 centage of germination. It is now possible to speak with precision of 

 the extent of damage caused b}^ careless methods of storage, to express 

 in actual figures the greater liability of seeds to loss of vitality under 

 the warm humid conditions existing in the South Atlantic and Gulf 

 States than under colder and drier conditions, and to demonstrate the 

 utility of storing seeds, when they must be kept in a humid climate, in 

 moisture-proof packages. A further investigation, i. e., of the extent 

 to which vitality may be preserved by means of commercial cold stor- 

 age, is now in progress. 



FREDERICK V. COVILLE, 



Bota/nist. 



OFFICE OF BOTANICAL INVESTIGATIONS AND EXPERIMENTS, 



Washington, D. C., December 5, 1903. 



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