150 The Principles of Vegetable- Gardening 



the open ground, the percentages would likely be 

 still smaller. 



What, now, is the fair germination test for seeds? 

 It is apparent that the seedsman or seed-tester cannot 

 imitate the varying conditions of a garden. He does 

 not know what kind of a garden the buyer has; 

 therefore, he must give all the seeds a uniform condi- 

 tion, and one which will show how many seeds will 

 sprout under the most favorable conditions. What he 

 must do is to show the greatest possibility of the 

 sample, not what the sample may necessarily be 

 expected to do under general garden conditions. 

 Buyers often express disappointment that their seeds 

 do not produce as many plants as the germination 

 tests led them to expect. The difficulty was, no 

 doubt, that the germination test was made under the 

 most ideal conditions, whereas the planting was made 

 under normal outdoor conditions. It would seem that 

 if one desires to know what any batch of seed is 

 capable of doing, he should make a test for himself, 

 choosing fifty or one hundred seeds from the sample, 

 and planting them early enough to determine the germi- 

 native vitality before it is necessary to make the 

 regular planting. The germination tests which are 

 made by laboratory methods are of the greatest value 

 in showing the vitality, vigor and the possibilities of 

 any sample of seed and in the accumulation of scien- 

 tific data, but people should understand that these 

 tests are no guarantee of what the seed will produce 

 under actual and varying conditions. The standard 

 set by the laboratory sprouting test is too high for 



