REST PERIOD STUDIES WITH SEEDS 



39 



By consulting Table 17 it is seen that watermelon seeds are ap- 

 parently slightly injured by freezing, even when they are dry, while 

 if they are frozen after being soaked, either for three or six hours, 

 all are killed. The effects of the ether on watermelon seeds were some- 

 what irregular. In treatments 2 and 3, dry seeds were etherized for 

 twelve and twenty- four hours. The total germination was 77 and 76 



TABLE 18. EFFECTS OF VARIOUS TREATMENTS ON GERMINATION OF SEEDS 

 KEPT IN COMMON STORAGE UNTIL MID- WINTER. TREATMENTS MADE IN 

 JANUARY AND FEBRUARY, 1913. SPECIES, Cucurbtia Maxima, DUCHESNE 



*See page 34 for detailed treatments. 



per cent respectively. Treatments 14 and 15 consisted of etherizing 

 soaked seeds (three hours) for twelve and twenty-four hours. The 

 total percentage of germination was 52 and 25 respectively, while in 

 treatments 20 and 21, seeds soaked six hours received the same ether 

 treatments, and the germination in both cases was 82 per cent. It 

 thus appears that if seeds are thoroly moist (as they were when soaked 



