BULLETIN OF THE BUSSEY INSTITUTION. 289 
No. 26.— Experiments on the Germination of Weed Seeds. 
By F. H. Srorer, Professor of Agricultural Chemistry. 
In connection with some of my earlier experiments on growing 
plants in pots filled with coal-ashes and sands of various kinds, 
attempts were made, incidentally, to germinate the seeds of 
certain weeds. My intention was to discover, if possible, among 
our common weeds some one kind, or several kinds, that could 
readily be grown in pots in the glass-house, with a view of testing 
experimentally, by the vigor of growth of the plants, the capacity 
of very poor soils to support vegetation; and for the purpose, 
also, of comparing one kind of soil with other kinds, as to its 
natural ‘‘ strength” or value. 
The seeds experimented upon were all gathered in the vicinity 
of the Bussey Institution, as soon as they were ripe, in the autumn 
of 1872, and they were set to germinate a few weeks later in a 
glass-house, the temperature of which was permitted to range from 
48° or 50° F. at nigiit to 68° or 70° by day. A number of seeds 
were selected and put to soak in water for twenty-four hours; they 
were then placed in a common flower-pot saucer of unglazed earth- 
enware, which was set in a larger saucer that was kept filled with 
water up to the rim of the smaller inner saucer. which contained 
the seeds. This double saucer arrangement was kept covered with 
an inverted flower-pot large enough to enclose the apparatus com- 
pletely, and to rest upon the table without touching the outer 
saucer. 
» I have retained memoranda of the following trials : — 
Polygonum acre (Water Smart-weed). Of 150 seeds placed in 
a germinator saucer on October 11th, 1872, none had germinated 
on November Ist; and it appeared at this time that many of the 
seeds had become mouldy. A second lot of the seeds was then 
placed in another clean. saucer and treated as before, with the 
result that none of the seeds sprouted, that they all became mouldy 
after a while, and were finally thrown away. 
Polygonum persicaria (Spotted Knot-weed). Of 150 seeds 
_ placed in a saucer on October 11th, none had germinated on 
October 18th; but nearly a third of them had germinated by 
November 11th, while the remainder were so mildewed that they 
