478 ON THE ABSORPTION OF WATER BY RICE SEEDS: 



EXPERIMENT III. 



The experiment was carried out in May 1895. In this case, 

 the seeds did not germinate on account of the lower temperature 

 and the time required to saturate them with water was somewhat 

 longer. The result may be summed up as follows : — 



(50 grains.) 



'0 



\Vt. of seed after steeping 

 in mgr. 



Increased vvt. by steeping 

 in mgr. 



Increased wt. in % of 

 total original wt. 



H-t -yj 



J-.Ot I 



J jOT 2 



IjOl I 



IJK 2 



_L( >t I 



T n 



i-iOt 2 



0 



1562.0 



1588.6 











I 



1640.0 



16534 



78.0 



64.8 



4.99 



4.08 



2 



1660.0 



167I.4 



98.0 



82.8 



6.27 



5.21 



3 



I6S0.O 



1687.8 



1 18.0 



99.2 



7-55 



6.18 



4 



1693.4 



17034 



1314 



1 14.8 



8.41 



7-23 



5 



1704.2 



I718.4 



142.2 



129.8 



9.10 



8-iS 



24 



1785.2 



1787.0 



223.2 



198.4 



14.29 



12.49 



48 



1845.8 



1846.8 



283.8 



258.2 



1S.17 



16.25 



72 



1899.0 



I9II.6 



3370 



323-0 



21.32 



20-33 



90 



I9II.4 



1927.0 



3494 



3384 



22.37 



21.32 



168 



1918.5 



1944.9 



356-5 



356-3 



22.82 



22.43 



240 



1922. 1 



1944-1 



360.1 



355-5 



23-05 



22.38 



CONCLUSION. 



From the figures above tabulated, it may be seen that on the 

 average 22.57 % ^f water by weight is required to saturate a certain 

 quantity of rice seeds with water — neglecting the small quantity of 

 dry matter dissolved out during steeping. This quantity of water 

 seems more than sufficient for germination and to absorb this 

 quantity it requires at a low temperature 240 hours and in a high 

 temperature 102-120 hours. From these results, it may be seen 

 that 5-7 days of steeping are sufficient for rice seeds to absorb 

 enough water to facilitate germination. 



