82 



HATCH EXPERIMENT STATION. 



[Jan. 



appear not to be present, or at any rate play a very unimpor- 

 tant role, in such seeds as vetch and alfalfa. 



Waugh* obtained favorable results with pepsin on tomatoes 

 and watermelon seeds, but not with radish seeds. In our 

 experiments tlic seeds showed a slight tendency to mould by 

 the use of pepsin. 



Experiments with Diastase Solutions. 

 Diastase, the starch-converting ferment, is probably the 

 most widely distributed enzyme in the vcgetal)le kingdom, 

 it being found in seeds and mature parts of i)lants, and usually 

 increasins; durins: the mobilization of reserved food materials. 

 The official solution used by chemists was prepared for this 

 experiment, and consisted of 10 grams of fresh, finely ground 

 malt, mixed with 200 cubic centimeters of water. This we 

 have roughly designated, for convenience, as a 5 per cent, 

 solution, from which the other percentages were obtained. 

 The methods of treatment follow those in the preceding 

 experiments. 



Table X. — Shoioing the Effects of Diastase Solutio7is upon the 

 Germination of Black Barley Seeds (^Hordeiim sativum Jesseu). 



Normal average (per cent.), 

 Diastase average (per cent.) , 



• Tenth annual report, Vermont Experiment Station, pp. 106-111; also eleventh 

 annual report, Vermont Experiment Station, pp. 290-295. 



