Germination Troubles 107 



soil. Phosphoric acid or lime, when not used in 

 excess, seems to have no injurious action on seed 

 germination. However, on no account should com- 

 mercial fertilizers be brought into direct contact with 

 the seed. This is well brought out in Table 16 by 

 Hicks.* 



Table 16 



Effect of Chemical Fertilizers on the Germination 

 of Breakfast Radish Seed 



Fertilizer Used 



How Applied 



First Sprouts 



Per Cent, 

 of Germi- 

 nation 





In the rows 



Mixed with soil. . 



Mixed with soil. . 



In the rows 



Mixed with soil. . 



No sprouts 

 No sprouts 

 May 26 

 May 24 

 May 25 

 May 26 

 May 24 

 May 24 

 May 25 

 May 24 

 May 24 



1.5 

 1-5 

 10. 0 

 950 

 2.0 

 6.5 

 37.5 

 930 



34.5 

 92.0 



96.5 



Check, no fertilizer. . . 



Mixed with soil. . 

 Mixed with soil. . 



Seed Treatment. Since seed is often a carrier of 

 disease it is essential that it be treated before plant- 

 ing. Treating the seed for about ten minutes with 

 sulphuric acid will hasten germination and destroy 

 adhering spores of disease-producing organisms. 

 However, more information is needed before this 

 method can be universally adopted by the green- 

 house grower. In practice, the safest method would 

 be to soak all seed, before planting, in a solution 



*Hicks, G. H., U. S. Dept. of Agr., Div, qf Botany, Bui. 24: 5-15, 

 1900. 



