4 BULLETIN 1383, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
EFFECTS OF SINGLE-BATH HOT-WATER TREATMENTS IN 1920-21 
GERMINATION 
In the first germination test six lots of Goens 4 and one lot each 
of Fultz (C. I. 1923), 5 Poole (C. I. 3489), and Stoner (C. I. 2980) 
wheat were used. These wheats were grown in 1920. Samples of 
each of the lots were treated on September 10, 1920, in single baths 
at different temperatures and for different lengths of time, as noted 
in Table 1. Samples of the same lots also were treated by the 
modified hot-water method for comparison. The treated seed was 
left to dr}- for 10 days at room temperature. After drying, 200 un- 
treated seeds and 200 seeds from each of the treatments in each of the 
nine lots were sown in moist blotters and incubated at 19° C. Germi- 
nation counts were made on the third, fifth, seventh, ninth, and 
eleventh days. The germination of many of the treated seeds, while 
apparently normal in appearance, was retarded in varying degrees. 
In some instances the seeds required the full period of 11 days to 
reach the stage commonly attained on the third and fifth days by the 
untreated w T heat. 
Table 1. — Percentages of germination of seed of nine lots of wheat untreated or 
treated with hot water, as specified, and sown in blotters in the laboratory on Septem- 
ber 20, 1920 
Treatment of the seed 
Percentage of germination 
Duration g 
3 
§ 
m 
a 
o 
o 
O 
o 
•J 
O 
"o 
o 
Oh 
00 
3 
<- 
J 
of 
o 
►J 
3 
© 
o 
09 
1 

O 
-1 
3 
S 
O 
o 
Kind and temperature 
Hours 
Min- J 
utes 9 
be 
ea 
> 
< 
Untreated 
94.0 
87.5 
85.5 
94.0 
94.5 
90.5 
93.5 
90.0 
86.0 
94.5 
88.0 
90.5 
93.5 
95.0 
91.5 
91.5 
84.0 
86.0 
85.0 
80.5 
86.0 
82.5 
75.0 
87.0 
74.5 
62.0 
86.0 
85.5 
74.5 
95.0 
75.5 
82 
76.5 
82.0 
91.0 
86.0 
73.0 
84.5 
89.0 
83.0 
89.5 
88.0 
81.5 
93.5 
91.5 
93.5 
84.5 
85.5 
90.5 
92.0 
85.5 
95.5 
87.0 
87.5 
89.5 
88.5 
91.0 
92.0 
91.5 
88.5 
87.5 
84.0 
93.5 
91.0 
81.0 
88.5 
89.0 
82.5 
89.0 
89.0 
86.0 
82 
61.5 
61.5 
68.0 
60.0 
71.5 
62.0 
61.5 
66.5 
63.0 
45.5 
67.5 
57.5 
52 
82.5 
73.0 
74.5 
67.0 
51.0 
66.0 
65.5 
48.0 
79.0 
58.5 
71.5 
70.0 
68.0 
57.0 
94.0 
77.0 
85.0 
78.0 
79.5 
87.5 
84.0 
84.0 
85.0 
85.5 
83.0 
83.5 
86.0 
77.0 
90.22 
71.0 
78.94 
Single-bath method: 
At 48° C 
f 1 
i 2 
1 2 
1 2 
i .. 
30 95. 
96.5 
30 92.0 
93.0 
30 85.5 
76.5 
45 91. 
94.5 
15 89. 5 
30 92 
45 93. 
84.44 
81.94 
At49° C 
78.33 
85.83 
82.06 
At 50° C... 
74.50 
85.72 
81.00 
At51° C 
77.22 
84.50 
83.39 
1 1 
75.72 
Table 1 shows that the seed was injured most by the modified 
method and by the longest treatment at each of the temperatures in 
the single-bath method, but that no very severe injury was caused 
by any of the treatments. In studies on the germination of seeds 
treated by the modified hot-water method Tapke {15) has shown that 
the number of seeds which germinate in the soil is considerably smaller 
than the number which survive the blotter test. It is probable, 
therefore, that the lethal action of the most severe treatments 
especially was greater than was indicated by the blotter test and that 
the degree of injury would have been more apparent in a test in soil. 
4 Goens wheat is extensively grown under its synonym, Red Chaff, in sections of Indiana where loose smut 
is very prevalent. It is unusually susceptible to loose smut, and perhaps more than any other variety is 
subjected to modified hot-water treatment. For these reasons it has been included in many of the experi- 
ments reported here. 
8 Accession number of the Office of Cereal Investigations. 
