Position of the Seed 



127 



The position of the fruit on the plant or inflorescence may 

 exercise some influence on germination. The following state- 

 ment records percentages of germinations from kernels of corn 

 and other cereals taken from the base, the middle and the tip 

 of the ear or inflorescence, 100 kernels being tested in each 

 case (Sturtevant, in 2d Rep. N. Y. Exp. Sta. 63): 



Base Middle Tip 



Waushakum Flint Corn 80 72 95 



White Rice Pop Corn 100 100 100 



Red Rice Pop Corn 98 94 100 



Minnesota Dent Corn 98 100 100 



Early Dent Corn , 82 24 33 



Sibley's Pride of the North Corn ... 100 100 97 



Wheat 99 100 



Wheat = 100 100 100 



Oats 94 88 100 



Oats 100 100 100 



Sorghum 65 86 89 



While the results of this trial are discordant, the explana- 

 tions of the differences are easily suggested. It is probable 

 that in those cases in which the germinations were higher from 

 the tips, the kernels were not so fully matured as below, 

 while the record states that "in the case of the dent corns, 

 some were under-ripe and the germination imperfect," the tip 

 kernels apparently not being ripe enough to grow. The experi- 

 ment, therefore, appears to prove nothing concerning the germi- 

 nating power of seeds from various parts of the inflorescence 

 only as such position indicates comparative development and 

 maturity. Another test made by the same experimenter in a 

 field plot, upon Waushakum corn, gave the following results: 

 "Of the 80 butt kernels, 56 kernels, or 70 per cent, germinated; 

 of the 611 central kernels, 589 kernels, or 96 per cent, germi- 

 nated; of the 80 tip kernels, 78 kernels, or 97.5 per cent, germi- 

 nated. We may, however, conclude that in general on normal, 

 well -selected ears, the tip and butt kernels are as likely to grow 

 as are the central kernels." This experiment is at fault, from 



