February, 1909 
ties of various sorts are 
obtained by weighing with 
delicate balances. 
For the germination test 
three hundred or more 
seeds are sown, by hun- 
dreds, in seed beds which 
are then placed in a forc- 
ing chamber. For most 
species the seed beds are 
merely sheets of filter pa- 
per, folded once and kept 
moist. 
Beet seeds are usually 
sown in platters filled with 
fine sand and _ watered 
once, at the beginning of 
the experiment. One hun- 
dred small holes are made 
in the sand of each platter 
by pressing on it a wooden 
disk studded with one hun- 
dred wire nails, and the 
seed is dropped into each 
hole. Before the platters 
are placed in the forcing 
chambers they are covered 
with panes of glass or 
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sheets of paper in order to reduce evaporation to a minimum. 
The forcing chambers, which were designed by Schribaux, 
the director of the station, are of several types. All, however, 
resemble cupboards closed by glass doors, are heated with 
gas, and provided with separate temperature regulators. Each 
chamber contains either a dozen trays which slide in grooves 
Germinating chamber for beet seed 
Preparing seed beds in platters and examining seedlings 
and carry the seed filter papers, or a dozen 
frames made of rods, on which the beet seed 
platters are placed. A clock, consisting of 
a cylinder, which makes one revolution every 
twenty-four hours, automatically opens and 
shuts the gas cocks at certain hours, inde- 
pendently of their control by the regulators. 
An exact record of the temperature is made 
by a registering thermometer. It has been 
found necessary to keep the temperature at 
68 degrees Fahrenheit during eighteen 
hours, and at 821% degrees Fahrenheit dur- 
ing the succeeding six hours, in order to 
imitate successfully the difference between 
night and day temperatures in the open air. 
If this precaution is not taken, the seeds of 
certain species which must be sown on the 
lished rapidly and in a normal manner. 
bulletins of the testing station give the weight of one thou- 
sand good seeds of the specimen examined and their “germi- 
native power,” 
have appeared within a certain number of days. The “purity” 
is the ratio between the number of good seeds and the whole 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 79 
surface because of their 
smallness, and which con- 
sequently are subjected to 
sudden diurnal changes of 
temperature, will sprout in 
an abnormal manner in the 
forcing chamber, although 
they may be in perfect con- 
dition. 
The time occupied in 
the process of germination 
varies in different species, 
as is strikingly illustrated 
by the group of seedlings 
of various sorts shown in 
one of the photographs. 
Perfect germination is the 
first requisite of good 
seeds, but they must also 
produce vigorous plants. 
Experience has proved 
that the vigor of the seed- 
ling depends, in the first 
place, on the weight of the 
individual seed, and, in the 
second place, on the course 
of the germinative process, 
which should be accomp- 
Consequently the 
represented by the number of sprouts that 
number of seeds, and the “cultural value’”’ is 
the product of the purity multiplied by the 
germinative power. The cultural value, in 
short, expresses the percentage of seeds freed 
from impurities that germinate within a rea- 
sonable time. All this information is en- 
tered upon bulletins which are sent to the 
officials charged with the suppression of 
frauds, or to the private persons who have 
submitted the seeds for examination. 
The sale of adulterated and worthless 
seed has hitherto been conducted openly in 
France. ‘The station is also carrying on in- 
teresting experiments in other lines, seeking 
among new varieties of plants those which 
are most worthy of cultivation and best 
adapted to the needs of the farmer. 
A collection of seedlings, at various intervals alter sowing 
|—Rye, seven days 
2— Clover, eight days 
4—DMaise, five days 
3—Ray grass, eight days 
5—Beets, eight days 
