30 MISSOURI AGR. EXP. STA. RESEARCH BULLETIN NO. 17 



This treatment shortened the dormant period (as compared with 

 seeds planted at maturity without treatment) in five species out of the 

 eleven that grew. The average shortening of the rest period by this 

 treatment was nearly twenty-eight days. The other two treatments 

 making use of stratification did almost as well. The highest germina- 

 tion followed drying, freezing in stratification and etherizing for 

 twenty-four hours, which was nearly 30 per cent better than seeds 

 planted at maturity without treatment. 



Drying seeds for a month seemed to greatly retard germina- 

 tion, as compared with seeds planted immediately after ripening (Ta- 

 ble 13, lines 1 and 2). Etherizing the dried seeds for twenty-four 

 hours or soaking for three hours followed by twelve hours of ether 

 gave about the same results. The average retardation in all dried 

 seeds (except those that were stratified) was from 6.4 to 9.9 days. 

 However, the drying appeared to increase the total germination by 

 from 1.7 to 3 per cent. (Table 13, lines 1 to 4). 



Comparing the seeds that were dried one month with those that 

 were planted immediately after maturity, Table 13 shows that about 

 3 per cent more of the latter grew. However, on the average the 

 dried seeds required 56.5 days for germination to begin, while those 

 planted at maturity on the average began to germinate in 50.1 days. 

 Evidently the rest period, or the length of time required for germina- 

 tion after planting, is somewhat increased by the drying process; or 

 perhaps the rest period does not set in until a few days after seeds 

 are ripe or until after they have undergone a few days of drying. 

 This change that takes place in seeds corresponds to what is popu- 

 larly known among gardeners and others as the "curing process/' thru 

 which they say seeds must pass before they will do to plant, if best 

 results are to be expected. 



Comparing dried seeds with similar species that were soaked three 

 hours in water and then etherized for twelve hours, it is seen by ref- 

 erence to columns 2 and 3 in Table 11 that the ether treatment short- 

 ened the dormant period in nine species out of twelve that grew, or 

 where there was any difference. The average shortening of the rest 

 period amounted to 3.5 days. The ether treatment brought about 

 germination in six species where the checks (the dried seeds) refused 

 to germinate, but in no case was germination prevented by the treat- 

 ment. In six species out of twelve, however, the percentage of germi- 

 nation was decreased by the ether treatment. An average of all per- 

 centages shows that there was a decrease of 1.3 per cent in germina- 

 tion in seeds that were etherized twelve hours. 



A comparison of the results obtained from treating dried seeds 

 with ether for twenty-four hours, and similar species of dried seeds 



