THE  AMERICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY 
By  A.  F.  Sievers,  Chemical  Biologist,  Office  of  Drug-Plant  and  Poisonous- 
Plant  Investigations,  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry,  U.  S.  Department 
of  Agriculture. 
Since  commercial  cultivation  of  belladonna  has  become  a  ques- 
tion of  practical  possibility,  the  methods  of  cultivation  are  receiving 
more  and  more  attention.  Repeated  attempts  at  field  sowing  have 
demonstrated  quite  thoroughly  that  such  methods  are  not  successful. 
The  tenderness  and  slow  growth  of  the  young  plants  make  it  a 
difficult  matter  to  secure  a  proper  stand  by  that  method,  even  if  the 
seed  germinate  well  and  seasonal  conditions  are  favorable.  Loss  by 
insects  and  suffocation  by  weeds  are  the  principal  obstacles  encoun- 
tered after  the  plants  have  made  their  appearance.  One  of  the  main 
difficulties,  however,  lies  in  the  fact  that  belladonna  seed  germinates 
very  slowly  and  irregularly,  and,  as  a  rule,  not  much  over  50  per  cent, 
germinates  at  all. 
During  the  course  of  several  years  many  belladonna  plants  have 
been  propagated  by  the  writer  in  the  greenhouses  with  very  good 
success.  With  proper  care  and  the  elimination  of  such  disturbing 
factors  as  have  already  been  mentioned,  the  plants  grow  rapidly  and 
uniformly.  It  was  these  experiments  that  afforded  an  opportunity 
of  studying  carefully  the  behavior  of  belladonna  seed  and  its  relative 
vitality.  Lack  of  uniformity  in  germination  and  the  relatively  large 
percentage  of  inert  seed  were  noted  .repeatedly.  It  was  decided, 
therefore,  to  undertake  some  systematic  examination  of  the  seed 
with  a  view  to  establishing  what  types  of  seed  as  regards  size, 
weight,  and  color,  and  what  methods  of  handling  are  the  most 
desirable. 
THE  GERMINATION  OF  BELLADO 
NOVEMBER,  1914. 
*  Published  by  permission  of  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture. 
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