34 



CONTROL SERIES NO. 123 



STUDIES OF FLOWER SEEDS 



Conducted by the Department of Floriculture 



Clark L. Thayer, Professor 



and 



E. B. Risley, Student Assistant 



For the ninth season the Department of Floriculture has cooperated with the 

 Seed Laboratory in conducting trials to determine the quality of flower seeds 

 offered for sale in retail seed stores, hardware stores, chain stores, schools, and 

 other retail outlets. The seeds, collected by the State Seed Inspector, were tested 

 for germination and performance under field conditions. 



All seeds were sown on June 16, which is a late date for many kinds of annuals, 

 in particular Larkspur which germinates best in cool temperatures. Although 

 the soil was somewhat dry at the time of sowing, L8 inches of rain fell between 

 June 19 and 23 which should have been sufficient to bring about satisfactory 

 germination of many of the seeds. Therefore, dry soil cannot be entirely re- 

 sponsible for the unsatisfactory germination obtained with many lots. 



Total rainfall for the months of June, July, August and September was 18.22 

 inches. The normal rainfall for this period is 16.17 inches. The first frost 

 occurred on September 21 but it was so slight that it affected only the most tender 

 annuals. The first killing frost occurred on October 4. Thus, with the seeds 

 sown on June 16, the growing season was 110 days.* 



Seeds of 261 lots, representing 63 genera, packeted by 31 concerns, and obtained 

 from 65 retailers, were distributed as follows: 



Ageratum 6 



Alyssum 10 



Anagallis 1 



Anchusa 1 



Antirrhinum 1 



Arctotis 1 



Aster 1 



Brachycome 1 



Calendula 10 



Callistephus 13 



Celosia 5 



Centaurea 8 



Chrysanthemum 2 



Clarkia 2 



Cleome 1 



Coreopsis 5 



Cosmidium 1 



Cosmos 7 



Cynoglossum 1 



Delphinium 12 



Dianthus 7 



Didiscus 1 



Eschscholtzia 6 



Euphorbia 1 



Gaillardia 4 



Geum 1 



Gilia 2 



Godetia 2 



Gomphrena 1 



Gypsophila 7 



Helichrysum 5 



Iberis 7 



Impatiens 6 



Ipomoea 4 



Kochia 2 



Linaria 2 



Linum 1 



Lobelia 2 



Lupinus 2 



Malcomia 1 



Mathiola 4 



Mirabilis 3 



Nemophila 1 



Xicotiana 2 



Nigella 1 



Papaver 4 



Petunia 11 



Phacelia 1 



Phlox 2 



Portulaca 3 



Reseda 7 



Rudbeckia 1 



Salpiglossis 3 



Salvia 4 



Scabiosa 8 



Schizanthus I 



Tagetes *r 17 



Thunbergia 1 



Tilhonia 1 



Tropaeolum 9 



N'^erbena 7 



Xanthisma 1 



Zinnia 16 



Total 261 



Germination tests were not made in the laboratory on any of the lots of seed. 

 Results of germination were rated as "good" if seeds germinated in approximately 

 two-thirds of the row; "fair," between one-third and two-thirds; "poor" for 



*Data on weather are taken from the Meteorological Observations of the Massachusetts Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Station. 



