34 PRACTICAL PLANT PROPAGATION 



QUALITY OF BLOOM AS RELATED TO RATE OF GERMINATION 



Many of the first seedlings of florists' flowers are the strongest 

 yet the poorest in floral quality. The gardener is careful to save 

 the later and more puny seedlings, for they often produce doubles 

 and the finer or newer colors. This is especially true of Petunias 

 and Primroses. T. D. Hatfield* writes: "Among Rhododendrons 

 the first in a batch to bloom are always the strongest growers and 

 the poorest in flower." 



SIZE OF SEEDS AS RELATED TO VALUE 



Prof. M. R. Cummings of the Vermont Agricultural Experiment 

 Station, reports in Rulletin 177 the results of experiments with large 

 heavy seeds vs. small or light seed and tells us that with Sweet Peas 

 the larger seeds gave more vigorous plants, of greater height and 

 more foliage. The seeds germinate better, the plants produce more 

 blooms and the blossoms appear earlier. In the same way large 

 seed was more favorable in the case of Hubbard Squash, Sweet 

 Pumpkins, Lettuce, Parsley, Radishes, and Reans. Mr. Cummings 

 says, "The discard of small seed and the use only of the large and 

 the medium sizes entails some loss of seed, which would amount to 

 but little, except with high priced seed, but which would effect a 

 considerable saving in the matter of production. Moreover, the 

 price of seed is one of the smaller items in the cost of producing a 

 crop. It is better to waste at the beginning of a season than at the 

 end, to waste seed rather than the time and labor expended in grow- 

 ing a crop. It costs little more to nurture a good crop than a poor 

 one. Why not insure the crop so far as seed selection can accomplish 

 that end ? 



"In market gardening operations, lateness of maturity and lack 

 of uniformity may destroy profits or even turn profit into loss. A 

 multiplicity of plants too small or too poor to market may be due 

 to the use of small seed interspersed with larger seed." 



SPECIAL TREATMENTS TO HASTEN GERMINATION 



Certain seeds germinate very slowly when handled by ordinary 

 methods. In these cases time can be saved and better results 

 secured by employing special practices such as the following: 



1. Covering seed with burlap. In sowing seeds of Parsley, 

 Celery, New Zealand Spinach, Pansy, Rellis and all perennials (in 



Hatfield, T. D. Methods Used in Propagation of Plants. From Trans, of Mass. 

 Hort. Soc., 1916, p. 100, 



