New York AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 339 
seed the heads from the small seed averaged an inch larger in size 
and sixteen days later in maturing than those from the large seed. 
In the case of beans the test was more thorough than with the 
other vegetables and carried through two years. The large and 
small beans were separated from two quarts of the commercial prod- 
uct. In both of the two years in which the experiment was carried 
on the crop from the large seed was greater than that from the 
small seed. The differences while not very great were sufficiently so 
to be decisive. Some of the notes in connection with this experiment 
are of interest. These are: 1st. That the large seed was slower in 
vegetating during the early stages of growth which is credited by 
the investigator “to the larger amount of dry matter to be acted 
upon by the moisture in the soil and for the chemical and other 
changes necessary to cause germination.” 2nd. The plants from the 
large seed were found to be more vigorous after germination than 
those from the small seed which is considered to be due to the fact 
“that the larger amount of dry matter contained in the large seed 
after it becomes converted into available food for the young plant 
furnishes them with greater power to overcome any adverse condi- 
tion attending vegetation.” 3d. “That the number of seeds germi- 
nating or vegetating in the first few days is not a correct measure of 
the vitality of the seed.” 4th. It would seem advisable in testing 
the germinating power of seeds to take into consideration the weight 
of the seed as well as their age. 
Waushakum corn kernels were divided into two lots according to 
size. The resulting crop did not show that there was any material 
difference in the producing capacity of large as compared with smail 
seed corn. 
The test of large and small oat seed gave the most tangible and 
satisfactory results of all the seeds tested. The seeds were planted 
in alternate rows. The seeds used in this experiment were from the 
farm granary, 1,000 of the smallest and an equal number of the 
largest being carefully selected. It was noticed during the growing 
season that those rows from the large seed were vegetating more 
rapidly than the others. They ripened slightly in advance of the 
plants from the small seed. The respective crops were eleven 
pounds fourteen ounces of grain and thirty-four pounds twelve 
ounces of straw from the large seed plat, and eight pounds fifteen 
ounces of grain and thirty-two pounds six ounces of straw from the 
small seeded plat. It was found, also, that the individual oat grains 
from the large-seeded plat were slightly heavier than those from the 
small-seeded plat. 
