EXPERIMENTS IN KEEPING AND SHIPPING. 65 



3.03 per cent in bottles; in dry rooms, 21.19 per cent in envelopes and 

 8. OS per cent in bottles; in basements, 42.28 per cent in envelopes 

 and 4.51 per cent in bottles. 



The necessary precautions to be taken, if seeds are to be stored in 

 bottles, are (1) a well-dried sample, preferably artificially dried seed, 

 and (2) a cool place for storing, at least a place in which the tempera- 

 ture will not be higher than the temperature at which the seeds were 

 originally dried. 



If the above precautions are taken at least two beneficial results will 

 follow: First, protection against moisture, which is of considerable 

 importance, as many seeds are soon destroyed in that way when kept 

 in paper packages. Secondly, vitality will be preserved for a longer 

 period and consequently there will be a more vigorous germination, a 

 better growth of seedlings, and a greater uniformity in the resulting 

 crop. 



Having thus shown that seeds retain their vitality in warm, moist 

 climates much better when kept in bottles than when kept in paper 

 packages, the necessity of finding a more suitable method for sending 

 small quantities of seed to such places at once presents itself. 



EXPERIMENTS IN KEEPING AND SHIPPING SEEDS IN 

 SPECIAL PACKAGES. 



At present the greatest disadvantages in sending out seeds in bottles 

 are the inconvenience and expense involved by this method of putting 

 up seeds. The increased cost of bottles, as compared with the paper 

 packets now so universally employed, the additional labor and expense 

 necessary to put up the seeds, the greater cost in handling and pack- 

 ing the bottles to insure against losses by breakage, and the increased 

 cost of transportation, are all matters of vital importance. Seedsmen 

 claim that the existing conditions of the trade will not admit of their 

 raising the price of seeds sufficiently high to justify the increased 

 expense of glass containers. Although to the seedsmen the preserva- 

 tion or the prolongation of vitality is an important factor, yet the 

 demand is for an inexpensive and at the same time a neat and service- 

 able package. 



Accordingly, duplicate samples of the following-named seeds were 

 put up in special packages, one set being sent to Mobile, Ala. , and the 

 other kept at Ann Arbor, Mich. The seeds used for these experi- 

 ments were beans, peas, cabbage, lettuce, onion, pansy, and phlox. a 



"The lettuce, onion, pansy, and phlox were from the same bulk samples of seeds 

 as those used in the earlier experiments; but the beans, peas, and cabbage used for 

 these tests were from samples received at the laboratory on February 4, 1901. How- 

 ever, the latter three were from the same general stock of seed, differing from those 

 used in experiments already given only in that they were stored during the interval 

 in the warehouse of D. M. Ferry & Co., Detroit, Mich., instead of in the botanical 

 laboratory at the university. 

 25037 No. 5804 5 



