DIVISION OF BOTANY. 



Seed Separation and Germination 



George E. Stone. 



It is generally recognized that large, heavy and well developed 

 seeds will as a rule produce larger plants than light and poorly devel- 

 oped seeds of the same variety. It is also recognized that seed uni- 

 form in size, weight and development will produce crops of a more 

 uniform type than those grown from seed characterized by variations 

 in development, etc. Those seeds possessing an embryo supplied 

 with an abundance of reserve material are better qualified to meet 

 the struggle for existence, other cfonditions being equal, than those 

 poorly endowed. Therefore, seed separation has come into vogue 

 among growers of special crops as a means of securing more uniform 

 crops and plants of greater vigor. 



In the growing of any crop it is wise to secure good seed, and, as 

 is well known, many failures may be attributed to the use of poor 

 seed ; but at the present time seed selection is not common in the 

 case of many crops. Much more attention might profitably be given 

 to such matters as seed purity and vitality, especially in intensive 

 agricultural pursuits, than is common at the present time. 



Already valuable results have been obtained from the use of sep- 

 arated onion and tobacco seed, and the careful selection of the seed 

 of various cereal crops has also proved profitable. 



Metliods of Seed Selection. 



Seed selection of one kind or another has been in vogue from time 

 immemorial, and it is customary for agriculturists to select the most 

 desirable types of plants for propagating purposes. The selecting 

 of the most thrifty seedlings from a seed bed is practically the same 

 thing, since the inferior seedlings are largely those grown from infe- 

 rior seeds, and are discarded. 



