CHAPTER VI 
TESTING THE VITALITY OF THE SEED 
No grower can afford to plant seed that has not 
been tested for vitality. If the seed has been well 
cared for and gives a germination test of 95 per cent, 
one bushel will be sufficient to plant 16 to 20 acres. 
If it can be avoided, no seed should be planted that 
tests below go per cent. The use of seed of low 
vitality results in an irregular stand, with the result 
that plants standing alone will produce a coarse 
brush of poor quality, while the crowded plants will 
be stunted and irregular in their development. 
Two dinner plates and a piece of heavy flannel 
cloth make a convenient tester. One hundred seeds 
are selected at random and placed between the folds 
of the moistened cloth. The cloth is placed in one 
of the plates, and the other plate inverted over the 
top to prevent the cloth from drying out too rapidly. 
The tester is then placed where the temperature 
during the day will be 70 degrees to 80 degrees Fah- 
renheit, and will fall to 50 degrees during the night. 
In three or four days the seed should begin to 
sprout. The tester is examined at intervals and the 
sprouted grains are removed after having been 
counted and recorded. If at the end of 10 or 12 days 
there remain ten or more seeds that have not 
sprouted, the lot of seed from which the seed was 
taken is not fit for planting and should be rejected. 
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