564 



Vitality of Farm Seeds. 



[OCT., 



Many farm seeds, however, have been found by experiment 

 to retain a certain percentage of germination for many years, 

 especially when kept under conditions involving dryness and 

 medium temperature. In a paper lately read before the Royal 

 Society,* Miss Jean White, M.Sc, Victorian Government 

 Research Scholar, communicates the results of an investi- 

 gation into the question of the longevity of resting seeds — 

 chiefly of cereals. Seeds of various ages were obtained from 

 Victoria, South Australia, and New South Wales, and the 

 germination capacity of all the specimens received was tested, 

 from 50 to 100 seeds from each packet being sown on damp 

 blotting paper placed in glass basins under a glass frame in 

 a conservatory to which air had free access. The temperature 

 was kept fairly constant at about 23 0 C. (73*4° F.). 



Eight lots of wheat varying in age from six months to 

 4J years germinated 100 per cent., while two further lots 

 4J years old germinated 92 and 90 per cent, respectively. The 

 germination of older wheats may be given as follows : — 



Age. 



Percentage 

 germinated. 



Age. 



Percentage 

 germinated. 



Age. 



Percentage 

 germinated. 



6h years 

 74 » 

 84 „ 

 94 „ 



104 



74, 42, & 39 

 68, & 16 

 32, & 3 

 32, & 0 

 28, & 0 



nh years 

 124 „ 

 J 34 s> 

 i54 



! 164 „ 



12 & O 



4 

 0 

 0 

 2 



17 vears 

 18' .., 



19 >, 



20 „ 

 21 



OOOOO 



In each case from 6 J to 11 J- years the first figure represents 

 a South Australian sample, and the second figure a Victorian 

 sample, while those from 12 J- to 21 years are all South Aus- 

 tralian. The South Australian samples retained their power 

 of germination much better than the Victorian, while the 

 Victorian samples were superior to those from New South 

 Wales, though not to the same extent. This appears to 

 show that the drier the climate the longer is the life of the 

 seed. 



In regard to other cereals the results are shown in the 

 table on the next page. 



It will be seen that the barley samples began to fall off 



* "The Ferments and Latent Life of Resting Seeds," Jean White, M.Sc, 

 Victorian Government Research Scholar, Proceedings of the Royal Society, B. Vol. 8r. 



