78 



obtained at the high temperature, it was decided to test cereal seed, in 

 future, at a temperature of 11-14° C. When 9-10° C. was used, the 

 germination of the " germinating ripe " cereal seed went on more slowly 

 than when 11-14° C. was used, whereas the seed which was not " germin- 

 ating- ripe " germinated more rapidly at the lower temperature. Low 

 temperatmres, however, may possibly also favour germination of " germ- 

 inating- ripe " seeds if the samples are exposed to them at periodic 

 intervals. The examinations will be continued during the coming year. 



At the end of the germination test there was, in the case of almost 

 all the samples of barley and oats, a remainder of swollen and fresh, but 

 ungerminated, grains. When the cereal seed had been stored for some 

 time in o\ir heated rooms, and was thereafter retested, more seeds germi- 

 nated, as a rule, than in the first test. As the object was, as previoxisly 

 mentioned, to give the senders of the samples information as to whether 

 the samples of. cereal seed sent in for testing might be expected to 

 germinate better later on, the examination of the cut seeds, described 

 on page 77, was raade in addition to the usual test. Corresponding 

 examinations had been made in the preceding years. The figures quoted 

 in Table 3 (see page 82) show that, in the case of samples of cereal seed 

 which germinated slowly, a considerably larger germinating capacity was 

 found in the cut seeds than in those untreated. 



The examinations conducted in 1922-23 showed that the wheat 

 samples did not reach their normal germinating capacity until November ; 

 six-rowed barley not until February or March ; two-rowed barley in 

 April or May ; and that oat samples, even at the sowing season, germinated, 

 on an average, only 90 per cent. In ordinary circumstances, oats become 

 " germinating -ripe " later than other species of cereal seeds. In 1920-21, 

 many of the oat samples tested had not become " germinating-ripe " 

 even by the spring. Especially the inner-grains germinated slowly; in 

 the examination later in the summer they germinated normally. 



It was, of course, of interest to see how the samples of cereal seed, 

 which had generally germinated slowly in the laboratory, behaved in the 

 field. In the spring of 1920 an incrustation formed on many clayey fields 

 following very heavy showers. It became apparent that cereal seed with 

 a comparatively low " germinating speed " germinated poorly and 

 irregularly in such fields. There was, therefore, considerable anxiety as 

 to the consequences that might ensue if something similar happened in 

 the spring of 1923, as much more seed sown that year had a low germinating 

 power than was the case in 1920. As the spring, however, came early, 

 most of the seed was sown at the end of March or the beginning of April. 

 The following period was so cool that the seed did not germinate until 

 the end of April or the beginning of May. During this cold period, after- 

 ripening took place and the cereal seed germinated slowly, but regularly, 

 at the low temperature. As incrustations were not common, the seed 

 had comparatively few difficulties to overcome when germinating. 



On account of the slow germination of the seed in the laboratory, 

 many farmers sowed 20-30 per cent, more than usual. From the field- 

 trials conducted by the Danish State Seed Testing Station, however, it 

 appeared that cereal seed germinated, in general, normally, and the 

 additional seed sown was, therefore, under the favoiu'able conditions for 

 germination, as a rule, superfiuous. On account of the cool spring, too, 

 barley tillered in 1923 better than usual. Germination in the field and 

 the further development of the plants were thus unusually vigorous in 

 the said year; but if the conditions for germination had been as in 1920, 

 it would certainly have proved necessary to give the farmers a warning 

 with regard to the germination of the cereal seed from the 1922 crop. 

 The results prove the truth of the old Dainish proverb : "A Seedsman 

 never becomes wise." 



The summer of 1923 was again cold and moist, and many samples of 

 cereal seed grown that year were no more " germinating-ripe " than the 

 crop of the preceding year had been, although they improved considerably 



