356 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [DECEMBER 
is favorable. Most seeds of medium size can safely be tested 
between folds of blotting paper. Very small seeds do not hold 
the separate folds of the blotting paper apart so as to allow circula- 
tion of air between them. To insure a sufficient supply of oxygen, 
such seeds should be tested on top of the moist blotting paper. 
Candytuft seeds were tested on top of the blotting paper, not 
because of their size, but because of their mucilaginous covering, 
which softens when the seeds are wet and sticks the seeds insecurely 
to both the upper and lower layers of the blotting paper, thus increas- 
ing the danger of loss or displacement of the seeds when the blotters 
are opened to count the germinated seeds. Pansy seeds have a 
mucilaginous covering similar to the covering of candytuit seeds 
and may well be tested on top of blotting paper, instead of 
between blotters as in this investigation. Large seeds, such as 
sweet pea and nasturtium, should be tested between folds of moist 
canton flannel or other similar material, instead of in moist blotting 
paper, because the cloth folds around each seed and supplies 
moisture to a larger portion of its surface than the blotting paper 
does. 
The seeds should be carefully distributed upon the substratum 
so that no two seeds touch each other. This guards against the 
spread of microorganisms, and is of special importance with seeds 
which are infected with such organisms as those which cause the 
*“‘damping-off”’ of seedlings. 
Table IV shows the conditions which are recommended for use 
in making germination tests of the kinds of flower seeds included 
in the investigation, and the number of days necessary for a pre- 
liminary estimate of the germinating capacity and for complete 
germination. The time allowed for preliminary estimate of each 
kind is the number of days required for the germination of approxi- 
mately three-quarters (actual proportions in this investigation 
varied from 0.7 to 0.9) of the seeds of that kind which are capable 
of germinating under the conditions indicated. The temperatures 
given are those which it is thought will give best results with each 
kind of seeds when both completeness and rapidity of germination 
are considered. With many lots of seeds germination will be com- 
