100 GERMINATION OF SEEDS: SEEDLINGS 
greater the number of lots tested, the more the results will be 
checked and, accordingly, the safer will be the conclusions. 
In estimating the germinative capacity of seeds, the time 
allowed for germination must be considered; for seeds having 
weak embryos and, therefore, unfit for planting may give a high 
percentage of germination if allowed enough time. It is, there- 
fore, necessary to fix a time 
limit, and in doing so the ger- 
minative speed characteristic 
of the type of seeds involved 
and the temperature of the 
germinator must be consid- 
ered; for some seeds naturally 
germinate more slowly than 
others, and the effects of low 
and high temperatures on ger- 
mination are already known 
to the student (page 90). 
Furthermore, kinds of seeds 
differ so much in germinative 
capacity that a percentage of 
‘germination considered good for one kind of seeds would be con- 
sidered poor for another. Thus 70 per cent germination is good 
for Parsnip seeds but very poor for Wheat or Corn. In the 
following table! the number of days in which the seeds should 
germinate enough to show their germinative capacity, and the 
percentages of germination considered good for first-class fresh 
seeds, one year with another, are given. 
Fic. 94.— Simple germinator. A, 
closed. B,open. After F. H. Hillman. 
rminati Good. 
Seed Germingion | germination, 
REO! CLOVER, 2: sens snaithaliee dit a cremmenara atte npatioendine macht 6 90 
Alsike Clover .. 6 90 
White: Glovers cance ie hinns ee three eS oe 6 90 
SANBAG aie pee cae 3 Sane AS eterna th ga MATIN SG 6 90 
EMM Oty = 54.05 eda ccaneen Saver laws Bipacein ta iba wee 6 96 
Bluegrass (Kentucky)..................2222... 28 80 
IEA Gis 5s cases deacstpssedecnes sn us ats Ant A ped nateeb nana cea 5 95 
5118 01 =i ea a Re 3 95 
, OT tare eae Gee a Pn ntte te PUM er Pe nae aren OY Mc Rt en 3 93 
BALLO Vs six cn a x eR 2 Oa yee eee Rk nates Whee 3 95 
VK hee ie i ne hire Cte CN te Fal cae oe Meal) al Ra mand 3 95 
COU sca nrineist  uiny eiiae — -ah Gagne Aa ea 5 92 
1 Testing Farm Secds in the Home and in the Rural Schools. Farmers’ 
Bulletin 428, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. 
