EXERCISE Y 



GERMINATION HASTENED BY SOAKING SEEDS 



Material. Seeds of beans, peas, corn, lettuce, beet, cabbage, 

 salsify, parsnip, carrot, wheat, and oats. 



Apparatus. 100-cc. wide-mouthed bottles, Geneva seed-tester, 

 sprouting-chamber. 



1. Count out fifty seeds of beans, peas, and corn. Divide 

 these into two lots of twenty-five seeds each and allow the first 

 lot to soak for two hours. Treat the second lot in exactly the 

 same way, but allow them to soak for twelve hours. Now place 

 both sets in a Geneva seed-tester and allow them to germinate. 

 What differences do you observe ? How do you account for 

 your results ? Explain. 



2. Count out one hundred seeds each of lettuce, beet, cab- 

 bage, salsify, parsnip, carrot, wheat, and oats and treat the same 

 as in 1. 



Now compare these results with those obtained in Exercise II, 

 and plot a curve for beans, cabbage, and salsify, showing the 

 difference, if any, in time of germination. Explain fully your 

 results. What is gained by the soaking of seeds ? Do all seeds 

 respond alike ? If not, why ? 



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