Tables of Longevity 



135 



The standard figures of longevity are those contained in 

 Vilmorin's Vegetable Garden" ('^Les Plantes Potageres"), 

 which are easy of access, both in the original and in the 

 " Horticulturist ' s Rule - Book . 



The following figures are selected from a table prepared by 

 Sturtevant, combining the tests made at the New York Experi- 

 ment Station during three years. The tests were made at such 

 widely separated intervals, upon such a number of seeds and so 

 many varieties, that individual errors must be largely elimi- 

 nated. Yet the percentages as recorded in the last column are 

 unsatisfactory, and are proof of the assertion that any general 

 statements of the limits of vitality are necessarily imperfect and 

 relative. Since the report in which these results are published 

 (4th Rep. N. Y. Exp. Sta. 58), may not be accessible to the 

 reader, most of the figures are reprinted here: 



Artichoke (Cynara] 



Asparagus . . 



Bean, common 



Beet 



No. of 

 trials 



No. of 



varieties 

 tested 



Total No. 

 of seeds 

 tested 



Age ill 

 years 



Average 

 per cent 

 germinated 





1 



150 



1 



63 





1 



20 



2 



80 





1 



30 



3 



57 



' 15 



1 



450 



1 



86 



3 



2 



150 



2 



65 



2 



2 



100 



3 



40 





1 



50 



9 









13 



680 







92 





3 



340 



1 



96 



6 



2 



240 



2 



69 



. 1 



1 



50 



3 



98 



' 2 



2 



100 







81 



22 



7 



1,500 



1 



74 



27 



7 



2,350 



2 



70 



- 4 



2 



400 



3 



38 



3 



2 



250 



4 



69 



1 



1 



50 



5 



88 



4 



1 



400 



6 



62 



