if our present system of grain grading is strictly followed. So, too, the 

 vitality and vigor of our seeds can be preserved by careful attention to their 

 water content. 



The custom, still prevalent among our Indians of the southwest, of 

 drying their seed corn on the pueblo roof before storing it, is scientifically 

 correct. We are apt, however, under more modern conditions to carry the 

 drying process too far. Grade one for storage purposes of commercial grain 

 is unquestionably the best. Experiments in the laboratory and field have 

 shown, however, that seed corn with a moisture content equivalent to grade 

 one has suffered in vitality. The grades one to commercial planted in con- 

 tiguous rows in the field show that a water content equivalent to grade three 

 is the most favorable. In rate of growth, vigor of stalk, and yield it is 

 superior to the others. 



FIG. IV. Germination of corn harvested in the Dent stage 

 and dried before testing. 



The quantity of water present in the protoplasm roughly determines the 

 state or phase of vital activity, and markedly changes its resistance to high 

 and low temperatures, and chemical agents. The knowledge of this relation 

 is of inestimable value to man. It places in his hands one of the most effec- 

 tive means of destroying, or of saving life. The successful destruction of 

 the germs of infectious diseases in our living rooms by fumigation requires 

 careful attention to the water content of the air during fumigation. As it 

 is ordinarily practiced, the effect of fumigation is largely a moral one. In 

 the dry atmosphere of our modern homes the water content of the protoplasm 



