PROPAGATION BY MEANS OF SEEDS AND SPORES 27 



to arrive at a numerical estimate of the viability of the sample, 

 rather than an effort to determine the relative strength of 

 germinative power. 



There are many excellent devices for the making of sprout- 

 ing-tests, only a few of which need be mentioned here for the 

 purpose of illustrating some of the principles involved. One 

 of the best known of these apparatus in this country is the 

 Geneva tester (Fig. 12), which origi- 

 nated at the New York Experiment 

 Station at Geneva. A full account of 

 this device by Professor J. 

 C. Arthur (Botanical Ga- 

 zette, 1885, p. 425) is here 

 inserted : 



"Various methods have been 

 used for testing the per cent and 

 time of seed germination. Those 

 most commonly adopted in this 

 country and also abroad have been 

 to place the seeds on the surface of 

 porous tile, smooth sand or com- 

 pacted earth. Without stopping to point out the defects and incon- 

 veniences of these methods, I desire to describe an apparatus devised 

 at the New York Agricultural Experiment Station, and which has been 

 found so satisfactory as to supersede all other sorts of germinators at 

 that institution for general use. It consists (Fig. 12) of a pan 10 x 14 

 inches wide and 3| inches deep, to be covered with a pane of glass. Along 

 the sides is a ledge f inch wide, and as much below the upper edge. The pan 

 is best made of tinned copper, the ledge formed by the proper shaping of 

 the sides of the pan, and the edges on three sides turned over to form a 

 groove into which the pane of glass may be slid from one end. These 

 details are not shown in the cut. The seeds are held in the folds of cloth. 

 A strip of white canton flannel is taken sufficiently wide so that when 

 hemmed on both sides (to prevent seeds slipping out of the ends of the 

 folds) it will be the same as the inside width of the pan. A long enough 

 strip is used to have about twenty-four folds 1^ inches deep, and leave a 

 flap of several inches at each end. The upper margin of the folds is sewn 



FIG. 12. The Geneva seed-tester. 



