Am'  May  Figi7m'  )    Germination  of  Belladonna  Seed.  213 
Table  V. 
Table  Showing  the  Average  Total  Germination  at  the  End  of  Each  Period  of 
the  Seed  from  Each  Individual  Plant  in  all  Three  Lots. 
Number  of 
Percentage  of  total  germination  at  the  end  of  each  period. 
plant. 
Jan. 9. 
Jan. 13. 
Jan.  18. 
Jan.  23. 
Jan. 30. 
Feb.  6. 
Feb.  15. 
Feb.  24. 
Mar.  7. 
I 
i-7 
5-3 
7-9 
IO.9 
18.9 
25-9 
42.I 
54-6 
57-1 
2 
2-43 
9.9 
12. 1 
17.4 
29.2 
i36.i 
51-5 
62.5 
64.I 
3 
3-2 
12.2 
18. s 
23-5 
30 
34-6 
44.8 
I50.6 
52.8 
4 
11.4 
3-5 
5-9 
11. 2 
22.9 
B7-4 
58.7 
74-8 
76.4 
all  the  seed  was  handled  under  like  conditions  it  would  appear  that 
the  vitality  of  belladonna  seed  is  influenced  not  only  by  such  factors 
as  time  of  picking  and  method  of  drying  but  is  dependent  to  a  cer- 
tain extent  on  the  characteristic  of  the  individual  plant  which  bears  it. 
Conclusions. 
The  following  three  methods  of  gathering  belladonna  seed  were 
used:  {A)  The  berries  were  picked  when  ripe  and  succulent,  the 
seed  was  at  once  removed  from  the  pulp  by  washing  it  through  a 
sieve,  after  which  it  was  dried;  (B)  the  berries  were  picked  at  the 
same  stage  as  in  (A)  but  allowed"  to  dry  spontaneously,  which  re- 
sulted in  much  molding  and  partial  decomposition;  (C)  the  berries 
were  allowed  to  remain  on  the  plant  until  they  were  dry. 
As  regards  weight  of  seed  method  A  produced  the  heaviest,  and 
method  C  the  lightest  seed.  The  latter  method  is  likely  to  result  in 
the  admixture  of  some  immature  seed,  owing  to  the  difficulty  of  dis- 
tinguishing between  ripe  and  unripe  berries  when  both  are  dry. 
Method  A  also  produced  seed  of  the  best  uniform  color,  while 
method  B  resulted  in  seed  of  very  poor  color.  Seed  obtained  by 
method  A  showed  the  highest  percentage  of  germination,  while  seed 
from  method  C  was  the  poorest  in  this  respect. 
Seed  from  different  individual  plants  varies  considerably  in 
vitality. 
