The effect of soaking in water and of aération on the growth of 
Zea Mays 
F. M. ANDREWS AND C. C. BEALS 
(WITH FIVE TEXT FIGURES) 
The first of these experiments was to ascertain the best length 
of time required to soak the grains of Zea Mays for growth to begin. 
The grains we used were one year old. Some experiments of this 
kind have been made,* but since the time varies to some extent 
in the grains of Zea Mays of different kinds and ages, it was de- 
sired to determine it for the material at our disposal. The second 
object was to determine the effects of aération on the seedlings of 
Zea Mays under different conditions. 
1. EXPERIMENTS IN SOAKING GRAINS OF ZEA Mays 
a. Time required for maximum growth 
In order to ascertain the proper length of time to soak Zea 
Mays for maximum growth the grains were kept in tap water 
for varying lengths of time, and then in wet sawdust long enough 
to total forty-eight hours. The experiments were kept under 
normal growing conditions. 
Tastes I-IV give the average length of growth of five grains. 
The unsoaked grain used as a control made no external growth 
in any of the experiments. 
TABLE I TABLE II 
Hours Growth Hours Growth 
soaked mm. in mm. 
RO pi ha oil oe eee 8.6 Ee Parr 5.2 
E97, ies So a a 10.8 Wr ies axes 11.2 
SOc eee os 12.6 NOG ai a ee II.5 
OT Cees ei ee 10.2 co haere rey 13-4 
Pt, patna ean es 4.6 cP a eas eT Pas 11.6 
Be ae eee ws 3-0 GA coyeweyeewn ee 4.8 



Kors geen <tomes aumnalr eermrmene 
* See Burt, G. J., Biggar, H. H., & Trout, C. E. The rag-doll seed tester. 
U. S. Dept. Agr. Farm. Bull. 948: 1-7. f. 1-5. 1918. On page 4 the writers state, 
“it is best not to soak for more than ro hours.” We have found, however, that 12 
hours is the optimum length of time with our material. 
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