LONGEVITY OF THE SEEDS OF CEREALS, CLOVERS, AND 
TIMOTHY 
H. B. SiFTON 
This paper is the result of an investigation begun at the Seed Branch, 
Ottawa, in 1900. The object was to determine the longevity of some of 
our common crop seeds when kept under favorable and uniform storage 
conditions. Samples of the cereal crops of 1900, 1901, and 1902, and of 
the clovers and timothy of 1902 and 1903, were collected. By working 
with samples of all the standard varieties of the time, collected in successive 
years from the same farmers, in representative parts of Canada, it was 
believed that valuable generalizations could be drawn. Four hundred and 
thirty-eight samples in all were collected. Some of these proved to be too 
small, and were completely used up before the life of the seed was ended. 
A sufficient number remain, however, to allow reliable averages to be ob- 
tained. 
The seeds were stored in cotton sacs or manila envelopes which were 
kept at ordinary room temperature in a galvanized iron chest with a lid. 
Once a year, in late summer, they were tested for germination. The 
records thus permit a comparison of their viability after various lengths of 
time in storage. The results of tests are recorded in the tables, to which 
reference will be made as each species is under consideration. 
The first results were recorded in 1903, so that in the case of seeds col- 
lected in 1900 and 1901 we do not know the percentage germination for the 
first years. In isolated cases, results of later tests are not available as is 
shown by gaps in the tables. In calculating averages they have in each 
case been recorded to the nearest whole number. 
Wheat 
Of spring wheat, forty-seven samples from the crop of 1900, sixty from 
that of 1 90 1, and sixty-three from that of 1902 were collected. They repre- 
sent fourteen varieties and were obtained directly from farmers and from 
the same stock in successive years, grown in representative localities in 
all the provinces of Canada. 
The curve in hgure i is drawn from the average germination of all these 
samples for each year of their age. Practically all the kernels retain their 
vitality for the first five years. Then the weaker ones begin to die, and the 
curve gradually becomes steeper. More than 75 percent of the seeds lose 
their vitality between the ages of eleven and fifteen years, and about one 
half of these die in their 13th year. After the 15th year, the curve begins 
243 
