212 
Digitalis  Purpurea. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
April,  1919. 
that  it  requires  from  9  to  15  days  for  digitalis  to  germinate.  Borne- 
man  (5)  states  that  digitalis  plants  come  through  the  ground  in 
about  9  days  and  at  the  end  of  three  weeks,  will  be  ready  for  trans- 
planting into  pots  or  in  plats. 
To  determine  whether  or  not  the  blotting  paper  method  of  germ- 
inating seeds  could  be  applied  to  testing  the  viability  of  digitalis  and 
at  the  same  time,  to  determine  how  long  a  period  of  time  it  requires 
for  seed  of  digitalis  to  germinate,  two  samples  of  100  seeds  each 
were  germinated  between  blotters. 
TABLE  I. 
Showing  the  Length  of  Time  it  Requires  Digitalis  Seed  to  Germinate 
•  between  Blotting  Paper. 
Sampl  No. 
Percentage  of  Seeds  Germinated. 
4th  Day, 
5th  Day. 
7th  Day. 
9th  Day. 
I 
76 
78 
84 
87 
2 
76 
79 
84 
86 
With  the  above  sample  of  digitalis  seed,  86  per  cent,  germinated 
on  the  ninth  day.  It  will  be  seen  that  very  few  more  had  germi- 
nated on  the  ninth  day  than  on  the  seventh.  This  method  of  testing 
the  viability  of  digitalis  seed  proved  very  successful.  By  applying 
it  to  four  other  samples  of  digitalis  seed,  it  was  found  that  these 
tested  91,  87,  42  and  7.5  per  cent.  It  is  apparent  from  these  figures 
that  there  is  a  great  variation  in  the  viability  of  digitalis  seed. 
Digitalis  seed  planted  on  the  soil  were  covered  with  a  small 
layer  of  sand.  Those  were  kept  moist  and  to  prevent  excessive 
evaporation  were  covered  with  burlap.  Most  of  the  sprouts  were 
out  of  the  soil  and  were  Y  inch  high  on  the  sixth  day  after  planting. 
Study  of  the  Planting  of  Digitalis. 
What  is  the  most  satisfactory  method  of  planting  digitalis? 
Stockberger  ( 14)  says,  "  Sowing  the  seed  directly  in  the  field  oc- 
casionally gives  good  results,  but  is  so  often  unsuccessful  that  it 
can  not  be  recommended."  Miller  (10)  germinated  digitalis  seed 
in  the  greenhouse  the  first  week  in  December,  grew  the  plants  in 
flats  until  the  middle  of  March,  after  which  time  he  put  them  in  a 
cold  frame  until  May  when  they  were  planted  in  the  field.  Borne- 
man  (5)  says  that  digitalis  plants  come  through  the  ground  in  about 
