4/0 ON THE EFFECT OF STEEPING ON RICE-SEEDS. 



Zoebl's analysis has moreover shown that not only ash con- 

 stituents but also nitrogenous and non-nitrogenous organic sub- 

 stances are considerably dissolved out during steeping : 



The injurious effect of long continued steeping especially in 

 warm water is certainly attributable to this fact and partly also to 

 the multitude of bacteria which prosper in water. 



Notwithstanding these injurious effects of steeping especially 

 in warm water, our farmers have been in the custom of steeping 

 their rice seeds for a number of" days, generally 3 weeks and in some 

 cases for 100 days or more without, however, such detrimental effect 

 as has been observed in the case of wheat, barley and other seeds, 

 so long as water of low temperature was used. 



As to the effect of length of steeping on the productive power 

 of rice, our experiments^^^ for many years, have gone to show that 

 long steeping does comparatively little injury to rice seeds, while 

 when sown without steeping its germination is rather prolonged — 

 thus entailing only a drawback. According to our experience, 

 with large quantities of seed, however, steeping for about 120 days 

 destroys, even in favorable cases, the vital power of some 20 or 30 

 per cent of the grains ; and those that survive germinate with 

 difficulty. 



From these facts, it must be concluded that rice seed has a 

 remarkable power of withstanding the action of water and bacteria. 

 Indeed this would not be any wonder when we reflect that rice, 

 when in the wild state, must have been in the habit of shedding its 

 seed in marshes, in which they could retain their vital power for a 

 long time. We shall now proceed to examine more minutely some 

 of the effect of long steeping on rice seeds. 



Our experiment was commenced on January 20, 1895 with 

 114.812 grams of seed steeped in 3 litres of pure water, and was con- 

 cluded on April 23 of the same year, — the seed having lain in water 

 for 100 days, when the seed was taken out from water and each grain 

 was carefully wiped with blotting paper to deprive it of the water 

 adhering to it. The whole seed was found to weigh 140.8992 grams, 

 the increase being due to the water absorbed during steeping. 



After drying at about 97°C for some hours, the weight de- 

 creased to 106.1896 grams. 



(3) M. Fesca in his Beitrage zur Kenntniss der Japanischen Landw. Sp. Theil, state 

 only the two resuUs of my experiments executed in Chikuzen where the experiments on a larger 

 Fcale w ere prolonged for many years. The results of these experiments are stated in the text. 



