SOME METHODS IN THE GERMINATION TESTS OF 



CONIFEROUS TREE SEEDS. 



J. S. Boyce '11. 



Scientific workers in agriculture in this country very early 

 realized that germination tests of seed formed one of the founda- 

 tions for the successful cultivation of field crops and have un- 

 ceasingly impressed this fact on the agriculturist. The business 

 of seed growing and selling naturally increased apace with the 

 great growth of the farm population and the diversification of 

 agriculture. It followed that the interests of the farmer had to 

 be protected by means of germination tests, the logical place for 

 this work being the laboratories of the various agricultural ex- 

 periment stations and of the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture, until today this work is an essential part of their activi- 

 ties. 



At first the work was in a chaotic condition owing to the 

 diversity of methods and apparatus used by the various testing 

 stations. With the increase in seed testing, however, came an 

 increase in experimental work to determine the value of the 

 various methods used and the influence of the physical and 

 chemical factors involved in germination tests in order that 

 broad general rules might be laid down to serve as a guide in all 

 practice. The different types of germinators have also received 

 attention with the result that the methods have now been broadly 

 standarized until the results of tests made by different stations 

 are comparable for all practical purposes. 



Owing to the immense amount and great diversity of other 

 important work, the question of germination tests of forest 

 tree seeds has not received the attention it deserves among seed 

 testing experts in this country. As in agriculture, we cannot 

 look for much work along this line from private companies or 

 individuals ; but the bulk of the work will have to come from 

 agricultural experiment stations and the government, supple- 

 mented as far as possible by results already attained in other 

 countries. 



The purpose of this paper is merely to present a resume of 

 some of the methods employed and the results obtained in making 

 germination tests of seed of coniferous tree species. 



