The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1899-03-17
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Testing Seeds.
!. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

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Any one purchasing seeds can easily
become his own tester; sufficiently so
for all practical purposes; while the
work can be done indoors and at any
time of the year, says contributor to
Country Gentleman. All that is re-
quired are a pan of good tin or other
metal, a dozen or so Of stiff wires the
size of large knitting-needles and
some cotton flannel. A convenient
size for the pan is fifteen inches long,
nine wide and four deep; the wires
should be twelve inches long and are
to be laid on the pan crosswise. A
strip of cotton flannel. eight inches
wide, should then be laid on the wires
and pressed down between each so rs
to,form pockets two inches deep (the
fluffy side Of the strip to be on the
inside); when the pockets are evenly
formed in depth the flannel should be
stitched to the wires. Another way
would be to lay the flannel on the
table and stitch the wires to 1t at every
four inches-in any case the bottoms
of. the pockets must be uniformly level.
The number of seeds to be tested
may be 100, so, 20, 20 or 10, but the
greater the number. the. completer the
test, though one of the lesser numbers
will be sufficient where only small
quantities of seeds are purchased.
Place the selected number of seeds of
yiy,I IN ihfarant cnryin
them along the whole length of the
pockets, at the same time putting In
ticket bearing the name of the seed
and date of sowing. Have sufficient
water in the pan always to keep the
bottoms of the pockets just wet and,
during the test, the wires should be
closed together and the temperature
Of the room be not less than 60 de-
grees Give the seeds plenty Of time
to germinate-that is, do not empty
the pocket until several days after the
first seeds in that pocket have germi-
mated; some seeds, such as radish,
terminate quickly and simultaneous
ly; others, like celery, slowly and I'M
evenly. The way to ascertain the per
cent of termination Is as follows: If
100 seeds of variety are to be test
ed, of course the number of seeds
terminating will be the per cent; but
If only 90, which is half of 100, double
the number of terminating seeds; II
25 (the fourth of 1907, multiply by A;
If 20 (the fifth of 1000, multiply by g.:
If 10 (the tenth of 1000, multiply by
10. Example: If II out of 20 seeds
terminate, the per cent will be IS, or
times II.
The following table gives what may
be considered fair per cent of germ
nation for the commoner kinds OF
vegetable seeds: .,..A.t., bar. -.
Name of Vegetable. Per Cent.
Beet (of sprouts) ................125
Bean, pea, turnip.. ............... 20.
Cabbage, corn, onion, radish to-
mato ........ .......'... ..'.''' ~
Cucumber, squash, melon ......... 50
Lettuce, parsnip .................. oo
Celery .......... .'.....''''....''' oo
Testing seeds is interesting work,
and much may be learned about the
properties and peculiarities of seeds
as we'll as other points of Interest,". for
instance, it is popularity supposed that
weevil-punctured peas and beans will,
not germinate; many of them will,
however, though the germinative pow
err is weakened according to the
amount of mischief done by the wee
vii inside, and it Is best to discard
them II you are ever unfortunate
enough to be supplied with them. Be
gin with vegetable Seeds and, after a
little practice with them, try those OF
flowers, which is more delicate job,
many kinds being very small and diff
flcult to handle, while others will not
terminate if given too much moisture,
and still others require additional
heat; indeed, some varieties will not
terminate at all in the tester l have
described, though it is reliable for all
but the most delicate of seeds.