CHAPTER VI 

 TESTING THE VITALITY OF THE SEED 



No grower can afford to plant seed that has not 

 been tested for vitality. If the seed has been well 

 cared for and gives a germination test of 95 per cent, 

 one bushel will be sufficient to plant 16 to 20 acres. 

 If it can be avoided, no seed should be planted that 

 tests below 90 per cent. The use of seed of low 

 vitality results in an irregular stand, with the result 

 that plants standing alone will produce a coarse 

 brush of poor quality, while the crowded plants will 

 be stunted and irregular in their development. 



Two dinner plates and a piece of heavy flannel 

 cloth make a convenient tester. One hundred seeds 

 are selected at random and placed between the folds 

 of the moistened cloth. The cloth is placed in one 

 of the plates, and the other plate inverted over the 

 top to prevent the cloth from drying out too rapidly. 

 The tester is then placed where the temperature 

 during the day will be 70 degrees to 80 degrees Fah- 

 renheit, and will fall to 50 degrees during the night. 

 In three or four days the seed should begin to 

 sprout. The tester is examined at intervals and the 

 sprouted grains are removed after having been 

 counted and recorded. If at the end of 10 or 12 days 

 there remain ten or more seeds that have not 

 sprouted, the lot of seed from which the seed was 

 taken is not fit for planting and should be rejected. 



