14 THE PRODUCTION OF SEEDS 



dry, most seeds retain vitality for many years, and are not injured by 

 ordinary freezing or even high temperatures up to 140 F. In 

 humid air, such as a damp cellar, or very often sea-coast climates, 

 almost all common seeds will deteriorate, even when kept at average 

 temperature. They lose power to germinate in a few months to one 

 year. Free circulation of air is necessary while seeds are drying, but 

 when they are thoroughly dry this does not seem to be necessary. As 

 there are damp periods of weather now and then, when seeds in 

 storage are quite apt to take up moisture, it is always well to pro- 

 vide free circulation of air in seed houses. 



Good Seeds. Two things are required of good seeds. First, 

 they must have grown and developed in a normal way, so as to have 

 vigorous germs and a good store of food. Second, the vitality must 

 be retained. All that is necessary to preserve the vitality of seed is to 

 thoroughly air dry the seed, as soon as mature, and keep in dry 

 storage. 



Duval * took seeds of various kinds, mostly vegetables, and stored 

 them in ordinary paper envelopes and also in corked bottles. These 

 seeds were then placed in storage in several cities, namely: Lake 

 City, Fla. ; Auburn, Ala. ; Mobile, Ala. ; Baton Rouge, La. ; San Juan, 

 P. R. ; Wagoner, Ind. Ter. ; Durham, N. H. ; Ann Arbor, Mich. In 

 each place they were stored in three ways : (1) Trade conditions or 

 ordinary unheated rooms; (2) dry rooms, which were dry inside 

 rooms, artificially heated, at least part of the time, and (3) 

 basements. 



The average loss of germination after storage for 251 days was as 

 follows : 



Envelopes Bottles 



Trade conditions 36.63 3.92 



Dry rooms 21.19 8.08 



Basements 7 42.28 4.51 



This shows that dry seeds, stored in such a way as to keep them 

 dry, will retain vitality even when stored in basements. However, 

 seeds not thoroughly dry, stored in tight bottles, deteriorate very 

 rapidly. 



1 Duval, J. W. T. : The Vitality and Germination of Seeds. Bureau of 

 Plant Industry, Bui. 58. 



