78 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Whether seed control methods are adopted in this country or 

 not, every buyer shouhl have some reliable way of ascertaining 

 the value of his own seed. Purity tests will probably not be 

 difficult to make, except in the case of grasses. To identify these 

 will give even the skilled buyer some trouble. If there are no 

 scales within reach, the percentage of impurity can be estimated 

 fairly well by measuring the bulk of pure and impure seeds, 

 though weighing is a much more satisfactory method. In mak- 

 ing germination tests, an average number of large, small, and 

 medium-sized seeds should be selected in lots of one or two hun- 

 dred for each test. In regular seed examination, two lots of two 

 hundred seeds each are usually chosen. Sometimes lots of three 

 hundred are used, the idea being that the larger the number of 

 seeds taken, the smaller Avill be the chance of error. For prac- 

 tical purposes one hundred will do very well, especially of the 

 larger kinds, as corn, oats, melons, etc. 



Since the principal factors aifecting germination are heat, 

 moisture, and air, it is necessary to provide proper amounts of 

 each. Seventy degrees Fahrenheit, which is about the tempera- 

 ture of an ordinary living-room, will do very well for most seeds. 

 The supply of a suitable amount of moisture is a more difficult 

 problem than that of temperature, since seeds vary greatly in the 

 amount of moisture required for germination. In general, it may 

 be said that large seeds and those with hard coats will stand 

 more moisture than smaller ones, but different kinds of seed vary 

 so much upon this point, that no safe rule can be given. 



Perhaps the plate method is the handiest way of making home 

 germination tests which Avill prove at all serviceable. This con- 

 sists in the use of two folds of white flannel cloth, thoroughly 

 wet, between which the seeds, having been carefully counted out, 

 are placed. A soup plate covered with a common dinner plate is 

 used for holding the outfit. The cloths will need to be freshly 

 moistened two or three times a week, according to the dryness of 

 the atmosphere where the plates are kept. 



Other simple appliances have been recommended for home 

 testing, such as porous flower pot saucers placed in pans contain- 

 ing water ; plates set in similar pans and hohling clotlis which 

 dip into the water so as to keep the moisture constant, etc. 

 Probably the surest way to ascertain the germinating ])o\ver of 

 seeds is to sow them in soil in a flower pot (or, jireferably, a 



