Germination Troubles 



105 



cultivation, and in fertilization. Old seed produced 

 in a favorable season may be preferred to fresh seed 

 of an inferior quality produced in a bad season. 



Weight and Color of Seed. As a rule, light weight 

 seed is inferior to heavy seed of the same variety. 

 The weight of the seed is influenced by culture, and 

 by imperfect fertilization which results in minute 

 and weak embryos. The cwnparative weight of seed 

 may be readily determined by the water method. 

 Place the seed in a tumbler filled with water. After 

 shaking and letting it stand for a few minutes, the 

 heavier seed sink and the lighter float. Using 

 this method, Stone * has shown that the heavier 

 sinking seed give a higher percentage of germina- 

 tion than the lighter. (See Table 15.) 



Table 15 



The color of the seed does not seem to have any 

 influence on the germination. Darker colored seed 

 is usually preferred to the lighter of the same va- 

 riety. Color, however, largely depends on the de- 

 gree of ripeness. 



•Stone, G. £., Massachusetts Agr. Expt Sta., Bui. 121 : 3-14, 1908. 



