362 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. XXIX, No. 7 
SUMMARY 
The depth at which the seeds were 
buried had little effect upon the preser¬ 
vation of their vitality. 
Cultivated plants appear to depend 
largely upon human agencies for their 
perpetuation. 
None of the cereals or legumes whose 
seeds are used as food germinated on 
being dug up. 
The seeds of weeds or wild plants 
survived better than those of cultivated 
plants. 
The weed seeds showing the highest 
germination and the fewest failures 
were all from common and persistent 
weeds in the locality of Arlington, Va. 
The docks, lambs’ quarters, plantains, 
daisies, poke, purslane, jimson, and 
ragweed are examples. 
Of the 107 species buried in 1902, 
71 grew in 1903 after 1 year, 61 grew 
in 1905 after 3 years, 68 grew in 1908 
after 6 years, 69 grew in 1912 after 10 
years, 50 grew in 1918 after 16 years, 
and 51 grew in 1923 after 20 years. 
The seeds of most weeds, when 
ploughed under, will not perish during 
the period of any normal crop rotation. 
Any attempt to control weeds which 
have gone to seed by plowing them 
under is evidently futile. This con¬ 
clusion does not invalidate the im¬ 
portance of plowing weeds under 
before they go to seed. 
The preservation of seeds buried in 
the soil helps to provide a continuous 
vegetative cover for the land. 
LITERATURE CITED 
(1) Anonymous, 
1894. vitality of seeds. Gard. Chron. (Ill) 
15:470-471. 
(2) Darlington, H. T. 
1922. Dr. W. J. Beal’s seed-viability experi¬ 
ment. Amer. Jour. Bot. 9 :266-269. 
(3) Duvel, J. W. T. 
1905. vitality of buried seeds. U. S. Dept. 
Agr., Bur. Plant Indus. Bui. 83, 22 p., illus. 
(4) Ewart, A. J., and White, J. 
1908. ON THE LONGEVITY OF SEEDS. PrOC. Roy. 
Soc. Victoria. 21:1-210, illus. 
(5) Kozma, D. 
1922. t)BER DAS verhalten der unkrautsamen 
im ackerboden. KisSrlet. Kozlem. 25:1-79, 
illus. [In Hungarian. German resum6, p. 
74-79.] 
(6) Munerati, O. 
1922. LA CONSERVAZIONE DELLA VITALITA DEI SEMI 
DELLE PIANTE SPONTANEI IN SUPERFICIE DEL 
suolo. Nuovi Ann. Min. Agr. [Italy ]2:243-249 
(7) Peter, A. 
1894. CULTURVERSUCHE MIT “RUHENDEN” SAMEN 
Nachr. K. Gesell. Wiss., Gottingen. 1893: 
673-691. 
ADDITIONAL COPIES 
OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE PROCURED FROM 
THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS 
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 
AT 
10 CENTS PER COPY 
Subscription Price, $4.00 Per Year (Domestic) 
$5.25 Per Year (Foreign) 
V 
