26 



THE NURSERY-MANUAL 



favorable conditions of planting, may amount to over 50 per 

 cent. 



"In planting, due allowance should be made for the com- 

 paratively bungling methods of field practice by the use of 

 greater quantities of seeds than would seem, from the results 

 of tests, to be sufficient." 



Probably the most truthful test of seeds can be made in 

 earth in earthen pans in a greenhouse or forcing-house. When 

 one desires to show the ultimate percentage of seeds that con- 

 tain life, the sprouting-test should be used. In this case, an 

 apparatus should be employed in which the moisture and tem- 

 perature can be controlled to a nicety, and in which the seeds 

 can be examined as often as desired. As soon as a seed sprouts, 

 it is removed and counted as viable, wholly independently of 

 whether it is strong enough to make a plant under ordinary 

 conditions. In other words, the sprouting-test is an attempt 



