GERM IX AT ION 33 



55. Soaking of farm and garden seeds (peas, beans, 

 celery, corn) is common, but good results are less com- 

 mon than is popularly supposed, for the soil should be 

 decidedly moist and the soaking discontinued as soon as 

 the seeds have swelled. When kept in water longer, and 

 when placed in soil too wet, decay is almost sure to occur; 

 and if placed in soil that is too dry they may dry out and 

 fail to grow in consequence. With strong seeds sown 

 out of doors in cold or unfavorable soil half a day to a 

 day may shorten the time the seeds would be under such 

 conditions and thus be a help. 



56. Soaking beet seed experimentally shortened the time of ger- 

 mination ; soaked seed germinated in four, live and six days after 

 sowing, while dry seed required two weeks. Soaking the seed was 

 dene for 12 to 14 days at a temperature of 43 to 48 in 35 to 40 pounds 

 water to 40 pounds seed. All seeds must be equally dampened but 

 not wet and must be frequently stirred. 



57. Scalding is often done to very dry and hard-shelled 

 seeds which are little, if at all, affected by cold water or 

 by freezing. For instance, the seeds of the Kentucky 

 coffee tree are covered with boiling water, which cools 

 vapidly enough to prevent injury. The seeds of the 

 nearly related honey locust are usually soaked in very 

 warm water for two or three days before planting. In 

 nature only a small proportion of these seeds sprout. 

 The reason that even these sprout is probably that the 

 seed coats are softened by the fermentation of the pulp 

 around them in the seed pod. The acid treatment, prob- 

 ably, will give quicker and better results (Fig. 21). 



Scalding does not mean boiling; merely pouring boil- 

 ing water over the seeds and letting it cool gradually. 

 Such seeds, even in nature, mostly fail to germinate 

 unless some such action as fermentation occurs. 



58. Hot water used by Wernicke, a German investigator, in ger- 

 mination experiments with Acacia molisshna and Lathyrus gave 60 

 per cent when soaked six hours at 122 degrees, 72 per cent when 

 soaked three hours at 167 degrees and 92 per cent when heated from 

 204 to 212 degrees for an hour. Untreated seed handled in flower 

 pots of sand the same as the treated seed gave 50 per cent. 



