High Vitality Seed Must Be Planted To Secure A Good Stand 
Kilgore's Bred-Rite Seeds Are Now Air-Conditioned. 
This Means Higher Vitality, Better Germination and Stronger Plants. 
The Kilgore Seed Company, the leader in all new things 
pertaining to seeds, has installed in its central warehouse at 
Plant City, Florida, the most up-to-date dehumidifying ma¬ 
chinery in order to maintain high vitality in all its seeds. 
A seed is a living organism and must be dealt with as such 
if good results are to be obtained when planted under favor¬ 
able conditions. Seeds, like other living organisms, respire or 
breathe. Experiments show that seeds kept in a humid at¬ 
mosphere, with high temperature, absorb moisture, and 
respire or breathe rapidly, which means they use up their 
vital energy. With high moisture content in the seeds, the 
higher the temperature the greater the respiration, and the 
quicker the loss of vitality of the seeds. By reducing the 
water content of seeds, respiration is reduced and vitality is 
conserved and greatly prolonged. 
Our experiments show that moisture has a more important 
bearing on respiration in seeds than has temperature, thus, 
if excess moisture is controlled, and if the seeds are kept in 
a dry atmosphere, respiration will be reduced and the vi¬ 
tality of the seeds will be retained and life is greatly pro¬ 
longed. Our experiments have shown further that if the seed 
is dry, it requires a very long period of high temperature 
to cause injury. 
Our tests show further that seeds kept in cold storage, or 
in cold climates, where humidity cannot be lowered suffi¬ 
ciently, absorb a considerable quantity of moisture. When 
these seeds, high in moisture content, are then brought out of 
cold storage, or from the cold climates and are subjected to 
ordinary conditions of high humidity and high temperature, 
they go down in germination rapidly. It is true that the 
respiratory activities in the seeds are much reduced in low 
temperatures, and the vital energy of the seed is thus con¬ 
served, but when the seed is taken out of cold storage into 
hot, humid climates, the greater amount of reserve energy 
in these seeds causes a more vigorous activity within the 
seed cells, and the seeds go down in vitality much more rapid¬ 
ly than if they had not been kept in cold storage or in cold 
climates. Our experiments 
show that in partially drying 
seeds, the opposite effect is 
apparent, that is, it takes a 
longer time for the seeds to 
absorb moisture from the at¬ 
mosphere than otherwise, due 
to the contracting of the seed 
coats. However, when this 
dry seed is planted in moist 
soil it absorbs moisture rap¬ 
idly and germination is ac¬ 
celerated because of the con¬ 
served vitality of the dry 
seeds. 
The relative humidity in 
Kilgore’s new Dehumidified 
Warehouse is maintained 
uniformly at 50 per cent, 
whereas, outside conditions 
during the summer months 
the relative humidity ranges 
from 75 to 95 per cent. In 
similar manner, the tempera¬ 
ture in the warehouse is 
maintained uniformly at 80 
degrees whereas in ordinary 
storage it ranges from 80 
to 98 degrees in summer. 
This efficient dehumidify¬ 
ing equipment has been in¬ 
stalled by The Kilgore Seed 
Company as the result of ex¬ 
periments conducted in their 
warehouse and laboratory 
during the past five years. 
We have now gone further in order to insure our cus¬ 
tomers receiving high vitality seeds. In each of our Florida 
stores, we have installed air-tight rooms for keeping our 
surplus supplies of small vegetable and flower seeds. The 
atmospheric humidity in these rooms is held down by use 
of chemicals, so that the seed is kept under proper condi¬ 
tions until it is delivered to you through our mail order 
department or through one of our twelve Florida stores. 
These dehumidified rooms insure our customers against 
getting seeds which go down in germination rapidly, or 
seeds in a weakened condition, that will not give a rapid 
germination or good stand when planted. Seeds kept in 
open storage absorb excessive moisture, which moisture, 
especially in periods of high temperature, causes the life 
processes in the seeds to go on at a very rapid rate. This 
devitalizes the seeds, and thus prevents rapid, strong ger¬ 
mination, and causes the production of small weak seed¬ 
lings. Seeds in open storage, or cold storage, due to ab¬ 
sorption of moisture, gain in weight, so that when you 
purchase Kilgore’s Bred-Rite Air Conditioned Seeds, from 
which the excess moisture has been removed in order to 
retain the high vitality of the seeds, you will get more 
seeds in a pound, due to the fact that they weigh less, 
being devoid of excess moisture, and in addition, they are in 
better condition for planting. Our improved storage facili¬ 
ties prolong the vitality of Kilgore’s Bred-Rite seeds, and 
also insure the production of more vigorous seedlings. This 
additional service is provided to give you in Kilgore’s Bred- 
Rite Air Conditioned seeds, more and better seeds for your 
money. 
In addition to keeping our seeds in artificially dried store¬ 
rooms, we have one of the most up-to-date seed testing lab¬ 
oratories where samples of all of our seed stocks are tested 
at regular intervals to further insure our customers 
against planting low vitality seeds. In our laboratory, tests 
are made every six weeks of all seed stocks in our warehouse, 
mail order department and all of our distributing points. 
A close up view of one of our seed testers. In these testing machines germination tests are 
made in the laboratory under ideal conditions. We make corresponding tests in the soil so 
that we know at all times the correct germination of all seed stocks we have on hand. Seed 
stocks that are found to be falling in germination and will soon be too low to give a 
good stand, are immediately removed from our warehouse and distributing plants and 
are destroyed. 
General Offices and Mail Order Department, Plant City, Florida 
39 
