58 SOILS AND PLANT LIFE 



beast to live. The granaries and elevators overflowing 

 with oats and barley, the train loads pi com and wheat, 

 are Nature's surplus. 



43. Man's Storage of Seed. — If the tiller of the soil 

 is to feed his animals, his own family and the great mass 

 of people who do not produce their own food, he 

 must carefully store that seed which he is to use for 

 planting. 



Just how the seed should be made ready and stored 

 that its vitality may be preserved most effectually has 

 doubtless troubled the minds of men since they first be- 

 gan to cultivate the wild plants of the forest and prairie. 

 The principles of seed storage are by no means well un- 

 derstood even yet, though in recent years we have gained 

 much knowledge along this Une. 



In February of 1900, Mr. J. W. T. Duvel determined 

 to find out what influence the climate and duration of 

 storage under different conditions had upon the vitality 

 of seed. He selected apparently strong seed of the 1899 

 harvest, tested samples for vitality, placed clean, fresh 

 seed in manila paper seed envelopes, and sent two or more 

 packages of each kind to the following places : 



Mobile, Alabama. Lake City, Florida. 



San Juan, Porto Rico. Durham, New Hampshire. 



Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Auburn, Alabama. 



Wagoner, Oklahoma. Ann Arbor, Michigan. 



The seeds arrived at each place about the middle of 

 February and were stored in an ordinary store room or 

 attic, which had little or no heat. Each sample contained 

 from one hundred to two hundred seeds. The following 

 kinds were sent : sweet com, onion, cabbage, radish. 



