126 The Principles of Vegetable- Gardening 



appearances of good quality, and the first test gave a 

 high percentage of germination. A test made a month 

 later by two parties indicated a decrease of nearly 

 15 per cent in germination and subsequent tests in- 

 dicated a constant lessening of viability. By spring 

 the seeds were worthless. 



As a rule, light-weight seeds give lower germinat- 

 ing percentages than heavy ones of the same variety, 

 and the weight is often determined by the conditions 

 of growth of the plant and its seeds. No doubt the 

 position of the seed in the fruit has something to do 

 with its germinative vitality, inasmuch as such posi- 

 tion must sometimes influence its weight and other 

 physical properties. This subject receives little defi- 

 nite attention, however, although the relation of the 

 position of the seed with reference to character of its 

 offspring, a subject with which we are not now con- 

 cerned, suggests experiment. Seedsmen know that 

 if seeds' for testing are taken from the top of a bag 

 which has been shipped in one continuous position, 

 the percentages of germination will not often be as 

 great as those obtained from seeds taken from the 

 middle or bottom of. the bag where the heavier seeds 

 have settled. 



A citation may be made (1st Rep. N. Y. Exp. Sta. 83) 

 to indicate the extent to which an injury to the plant may 

 influence the weight of seeds. One hundred seeds of each of 

 three lots of ordinary White Grlobe onion seeds weighed respec- 

 tively 5.91, 5.98 and 4.99 grains, or an average of 5.63 grains. 

 One hundred grains of the same variety from a grafted plant 

 weighed 3.97 grains, 100 from a ligatured plant weighed 4.05 

 grains, and 100 from a compressed stalk, 3.48 grains. 



