SEED TESTERS 45 



be overestimated from the standpoint of profits. In all inten- 

 sive agricultural and more particularly in horticultural work 

 the money made from a given crop is largely determined by 

 the time at which the crop reaches the market. In order to 

 secure the maximum yields from a given piece of land there 

 must be a full stand of plants and not one-half or two-thirds 

 of a stand. If the testing of the seeds is neglected and their 

 vitality happens to be low the stand of plants will be below 

 the normal number, consequently the yield will be reduced 

 to a point where no profits are made. Unless the seed is 

 tested the stand of plants cannot be ascertained until the 

 seed come up. If a poor stand at this late date is discovered, 

 and even if replanting is then resorted to, the time lost is so 

 great that the crop will come on the market at a time when 

 every grower is producing the same crop, and consequently 

 the price is so reduced that the crop is often unprofitable. 

 On the other hand, if the seed had been tested the grower 

 would have known what percentage of seed would germinate, 

 and he could plant accordingly. If a given sample tested 

 95 per cent, it would only be necessary to plant in the 

 normal way, with the result of a good stand of plants; but if 

 the sample only tested 50 per cent, then it would be either 

 necessary to plant twice as many seeds or purchase more seed 

 with greater vitality. The progressive grower always guards 

 against a possible loss. Consequently he germinates his seed 

 prior to the time for planting and he knows definitely how 

 many seed can be expected to grow and then plants accord- 

 ingly. 



Seed Testers. — There are four kinds of seed testers. These 

 are more or less distinct, and some kinds can easily be made 

 by the grower. 



The dinner-plate seed tester (Fig. 9) consists of two large- 

 sized dinner plates, the one turned over the other. Between 

 the plates are placed two or three blotters covered with 

 two pieces of canton flannel. The material is moistened 

 with water and the seed are placed between the blotters 

 and are set in a warm room until they germinate. It is 

 always well to change the blotters after each test, in order 

 to guard against infection by fungi, which sometimes cause 

 the seed to mould. 



