VOLUME LIX NUMBER 6 
THE 
BOTANICAL . GAZET EE 
JUNE 1915 
A STUDY OF DELAYED GERMINATION IN ECONOMIC 
SEEDS 
CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE HULL BOTANICAL LABORATORY 204 
Draw: H. Rose 
(WITH ONE FIGURE) 
This paper presents the results of an attempt to discover some 
of the practical problems that seedsmen and growers have to meet, 
and to work out, so far as possible, practical methods of solving 
these problems. The seeds tested were furnished by six of the 
leading seed houses of the United States. 
In the present state of our knowledge it can be said that delayed 
germination and poor germination are due to one or more of the 
following causes: hard-coatedness, the need of after-ripening, 
exclusion of oxygen by the seed coat, the effect of frost on seeds, 
fungi on or in seeds, and of course the wie of seeds containing 
dead embryos. 
Hard-coatedness 
The condition of hard-coatedness in the seeds of legumes is 
well known. To overcome this condition investigators have used 
hot water, chemicals, and mechanical devices for scratching or 
puncturing the seed coat. 
The use of hot water for forcing germination is undoubtedly 
older than the references to it in periodical literature. It was 
recommended by BRUYNING (6) in 1893 for seeds of Ulex europaeus, 
425 
