THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
249 
Opportunity to study loss under storage was afforded by test¬ 
ing the seed from the same container from year to year. The 
seed was kept in glass-stoppered bottles on the laboratory shelf 
under ordinary room temperatures. The building was heated 
every day in the winter, spring and fall, but not at night. 
By plotting and thereby averaging the values in Table III, it 
was found that th© annual rate of decrease in germination for 
all species is not above 10%. Western yellow pine shows 3 5% 
and Engelmann spruce show only 2.5% annual loss. 
TABLE III 
Decrease in Germination Under Storage 
U1 
in 
o H 
S 
Species 
o ■ 
Yrn 
o» 
o 
a ^ 
0) o 
YU 
Germination Per Cent. 
Years After Collection 
LI 21 31 41 5 
6| 7| 8| 91101 ^ 
3.5 
1911 
Pinus ponderosa .... 
5 
1915 
54 
46 
49 
42 
42 
Helena 
1910 
54 
1911 
Pinus monticola .... 
4 
1915 
48 
54 
35 
17 
12 
Pseudo, taxifolia . . . 
6 
52 
45 
35 
30 
Lolo 
1913 
47 
28 
5 
Larix occidentalis . . 
4 
32 
25 
13 
Picea engelmanni .. 
1 
1914 
84 
82 
75 
72 
72 
1912 
Thuja plicata . 
3 
1914 
47 
42 
27 
16 
Pinus contorta . 
1 
1910 
43 
64 
50 
45 
Tsuga heterophylla. . 
1 
1915 
56 
60 
43 
Abies . 
1 
1913 
15 
3 
9.0 
7.0 
7.0 
6.0 
2.5 
10.5 
5.7 
5.0 
Individual samples often show a much better preservation 
than the averages; thus western yellow pine seed from the 
Colville National Forest, 1911, gave 68%, eight years later. The 
same species from the Helena National Forest, 1910, germina¬ 
ted 54.4% seven years afterward; lodgepole pine from the 
Beartooth National Forest, 1910, showed 45% viability in 1919 
and even Douglas hr in one case gave 8% when eight years 
old. In making use of these figures on rate of deterioration it 
is necessary to consider the original test value of the sample 
in question, for if the rate of depreciation is the same both for 
seed of original high and low germination tests the former 
will evidently hold out the longer. 
But in using old seed the factor of decreased rate of germin¬ 
ation which has been observed from year to year must be al¬ 
lowed for though the same samples, as in the case of western 
yellow pine from the Lolo National Forest, 1912, shown in Fig¬ 
ure I, may give a total of 61, 44 and 35% in 1913, 1915 and 1919, 
respectively, the value for sowing is further reduced in subse¬ 
quent years by a slowing down of the rate of germination 
itself, as compared with the original test. This corrected value 
for the Lolo yellow pine sample on a fifty-day basis will be 61, 
42.5 and 30% for 1913, 1915 and 1919. 
Variation in Number of Seed per Pound — 
These tests have brought out another matter of interest in 
showing larger and fewer seed per pound for those of western 
origin and smaller for the eastern regions. The greatest dif¬ 
ference occurs in yellow pine; this species averages 10,000 seed 
per pound from the Bitterroot, Lolo and Kaniksu National For¬ 
ests; 8,000 for the Colville, 9,000 for the Whitman and 19,000 
for the Black Hills National Forests. Douglas fir samples show- 
34,000 per pound from the coast of Washington, 33,000 from 
the Colville, 36,000 from the Wenatchee, 43,000 from the Lolo, 
and up to 53,000 from the Kootenai National Forests. Western 
white pine seed from the Columbia National Forest, Wash 
shows 22,400 per pound and from 24,000 to 32,000 from the 
Coeur d’Alene, and Kaniksu National Forests in Idaho. In all 
cases these tests are based on absolutely pure seed. 
Summary — 
Germination tests and observations on the character of 
seeds of coniferous trees native to Montana and northern Idaho 
show that the seed is liable to serious injury by storage of the 
cones in wet condition; that the extraction of the seed under 
temperatures above 120o F. and in such hot and very humid air 
reduces the viability of the seed; that sterilization to prevent 
damping-off or bad molding is apt to injure seed of small, thin 
seed coats; that the rate of germination of seeds which ordin¬ 
arily germinate slowly may be hastened materially by reduction 
of the impervious seed coat, and that coniferous seeds often re¬ 
main viable in dry storage from eight to ten years. 
TENTATIVE PROGRAM, TWENTY-FOURTH ANNUAL CON¬ 
VENTION SOUTHERN NURSERYMEN’S ASSOCIATION 
LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY 
SEPTEMBER 14th AND 15th, 1922. 
HEADQUARTERS, HOTEL LA FAYETTE. 
MORNING SESSION, 10 O’CLOCK, TUESDAY 14th 
BALL ROOM 
Call to order. 
Invocation, Dr. Benjamin J. Bush. 
Address of Welcome, Hon. Wood G. Dunlap, Com. of Public 
Property. 
Response, A. J. Fletcher, Cleveland, Tenn. 
Roll Call and Minutes of last meeting. 
Election of new members. 
Introduction of new members. 
President’s Address, C. A. Simpson, Monticello, Fla. 
The Cash with Order Plan, Paul C. Stark, Louisiana, Mo. 
Standardization, John Fraser, Huntsville, Ala. 
Appointment of Committees. 
AFTERNOON SESSION, 2.30 O’CLOCK 
Ethics, O. Joe Howard, Hickory, N. C. 
Trade Terms, Hale Harrison, Berlin, Maryland. 
Closer Co-operation with A. A. of N., Paul Bindley, Pomona, 
N. C. 
Recent and Threatened Legislation, Chas. T. Smith, Concord, 
Ga. 
Rose Stocks (Illustrated with Lantern Slides), Robert Pyle, 
West Grove, Pa. 
Broad Leaf Evergreens of the South, L. M. Jenney, Roseacres, 
Miss. 
(Subject to be announced), John Watson, Rochester, N. 1 
New Methods and Advantages of Summer Planting, Walter 
W. Hillenmeyer, Lexington, Ky. 
There will be no evening session, it being deemed best to 
leave the evening open for the meeting of The Retail Protective 
Association, to allow the order book hounds to get in a little 
work and to permit those who wish to attend the movies and 
theatres 
MORNING SESSION, 10 O’CLOCK, FRIDAY 15th. 
Growing Evergreens, V. D. Hill, Dundee, Ill. 
Soil Salvation with Pulverized Limestone, Furman Smith. 
Gen. Sales Mgr. American Limestone Co., Knoxville, Tenn. 
Notes on Investigations of Soil Nematodes in Ga., J. A. Me- 
Clintock, Pathologist, Knoxville, Tenn. 
How Nurserymen can Co-operate in Conducting Tests for 
Crown-Gall and Wooly Aphis eradication, Dr. Scherbakoff, Dir 
ector Division of Extension, Knoxville, Tenn. 
The Nursery Outlook in My State, Leading Nurserymen from 
each state represented at this meeting will be called upon for a 
general resume’ of the conditions and outlook in their sections 
and any matter of general interest to nurserymen. Be prepared 
to respond when called upon, NO SLACKING. 
Report of Committees. 
New Business. 
Old Business. 
Installation of new officers. 
Adjournment. 
FRIDAY, 2 P. M. 
Instead of an afternoon session there will be a drive around 
the city including residential section, some of the best known 
stock farms, visit to see Man of War (America’s greatest race 
horse) and ending at Hillenmeyer’s Nursery, where a buffet 
lunch will be served. 
SATURDAY, 1.30 P. M. 
Fall races open at Lexington giving those who wish to stay 
over an opportunity to see a real Kentucky meeting. This 
alone will be worth the trip to those who have never witnessed 
such an event. 
The Southern nurserymen are holding their 24th an¬ 
nual convention at Lexington, Kentucky, September litli 
and 15th. The tentative program is published as above. 
The meeting dates have been changed from the 6th and 
7th in order to take advantage of the tall horse races and 
enable visitors to see a real Kentucky meeting which 
commences at Lexington, September 16th, at 1.30 P. M. 
