10 



CIRCULAR 377, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Table 7. — Vernalized seed of Sudan grass sown in greenhouse and harvested Jan. 31, 



1984 





Vernalization 





c3 



Heads on date 

 indicated 



Length of culms 



Name and treatment 







CD 









Longest 





































ta 





S-, 

















M 











o o 



a 



i2 



CD 



t* 



CS! 





,H 







=£ 





>> 



c3 



"ce 



s 





© 



O 

 CD 



a 



■g 



s 



°3 



(B 







~* 



Eh 



* 



Q 







2 



fe 



OQ 



fa 



En 



<j 





Num- 



Per- 





Num- 





Num- 



Num- 



Num- 











ber 



cent 



° C. 



ber 





ber 



ber 



ber 



Zwc/ies 



Inches Inches Inches 





i 3 



45 



22 



5 



Nov. 20 



3 



^ 



6 



12 





293 

 339 



48.83 

 48.43 

 49.00 



Check. ... 









5 



Nov. 27 



2 



5 





14 



59 00 



Sudan grass 



23 



45 



22 



4 



Dec. 4 



1 



2 



4 



2-3 



57.50 



196 



Check.. 









4 



Later 







2 



6 



4-5 



37.66 



226 



37 66 



1 







i Then dried slowly through 6 days and planted Aug. 24, 1933, the check being planted on the same date. 

 2 Then dried slowly through 6 days and kept dry 12 days before planting Sept. 5, 1933, the check being 

 planted on the same date. 



It has been brought out in these trials, as in some earlier unpublished 

 work, that in the case of grasses and in certain legumes, seed that 

 have been slightly sprouted and again dried will start into growth 

 quicker than unsprouted seed. Legumes which have epigeous 

 cotyledons cannot be sprouted and dried without injur}', but in the 

 writer's experience legumes in which the cotyledons are hypogeous 

 can be sprouted and dried several times without serious injury and 

 when sprouted, dried, and again moistened, start growth more 

 quickly than unsprouted seed. 



It has also been shown that the capacity of seed to absorb moisture 

 varies greatly in different varieties as well as in different species, and 

 that the amount necessary to induce germination is about three- 

 fourths of the seeds' total absorption capacity. The amount of 

 moisture necessary for germination, therefore, can be ascertained 

 approximately by determining the total absorption capacity. The 

 absorption capacity of seed of a number of plants as determined in the 

 course of these experiments, expressed in percentage of the ordinary 

 air-dry weight of the seed, is given below: 



Percent 



Agrostis alba (redtop) 96 



Cajanus indicus (pigeonpea) 129 



Chaetochloa italica: 



(Common foxtail millet) 



(Hungarian foxtail millet) 



(Siberian foxtail millet) 



Crotalaria spectabilis 



Crotalaria striata 



Dactylis glomerata (orchard grass) 113 



Festuca -elatior (meadow fescue) 100 



Hedysarum coronarium (sulla) 132 



Lolium multiflorum (Italian ryegrass) 67 



Lespedeza sericea 125 



Lupinus albus (white lupine) 152 



Medicago sativa (common alfalfa) 130 



Melilotus alba (white sweetclover) 120 



Pisum arvense (Austrian Winter field pea) 110 



32 



28 



39 



159 



176 



