may be attributed to variation in the quality of each lot of seed used, 

 and no conclusions should be drawn from them with respect to the 

 effect of the treatment. 



EXPERIMENTS ON GRAIN IN BULK. 



In order to ascertain whether similar injury to the seeds named in 

 the foregoing table would result from treatment in bulk, one bushel 

 each of wheat, rye, barley, and field corn were subjected to a second 

 series of experiments. One bushel of each kind of grain was placed 

 in an air-tight bin for twent} T -four hours. Upon the surface of the 

 grain were shallow glass vessels containing carbon bisulphid in the 

 proportion of one pound to one hundred bushels, as recommended by 

 the Division of Entomology of this Department.* At the close of 

 the 24 hours lots of each variety of seed, both treated and untreated, 

 were germinated in duplicate. The averages of these tests are given 

 in the following table. 



NAMK OF SKED. 



PER CENT GERMINATED. 



Treated 

 24 hours. 



Untreated. 



Corn (Field), Hickory King 97.5 | 98.5 



Rye, Winter 91 90 



Barley 97.5 98 



Wheat, Jones' Winter Fife 98 97.5 



CONCLUSIONS. 



It will thus be seen that no appreciable difference in the vitality 

 of wheat, corn, barley, or rye results from treating the seed in bulk 

 with carbon bisulphid for 24 hours at the rate of one pound of the 

 chemical to one hundred bushels of the grain. 



In general, seeds of cotton, peas, beans, buckwheat, oats, the cab- 

 bage family, and cowpeas will endure the most severe treatment 

 with the fumes of carbon bisulphid without their germination being 

 injured to any appreciable extent. On the other hand, seeds of corn, 

 wheat, rye, and other crops belonging to the grass family (except 

 Kafir corn and oats) should be treated with caution, as serious deteri- 

 oration in vitality is likely to result from excessive exposure to the gas. 



*F. H. C.hittenden in the Yearbook of the Department of Agriculture, 1894, 

 pp. 298-4. 



GILBERT H. HICKS, 

 First Assistant Botanist. 



JOHN C. DABNEY, 

 Assistant, Division of Botany. 

 Approved : 



JAMES WILSON, 



Secretary of Agriculture. 



O 



