Testing seeds at constant temperatures
W. J. Beal

J. L. Campbell, of West Elizabeth,
Penn., manufactures an incubator or
egg-hatcher which is intended to run
at a uniform temperature for some
days. He made a machine on the
same plan for testing seeds. It is
heated by an ordinary number two
kerosene hand lamp. The room or
box containing the seeds also contains
a band of metal, fastened by each
end to a board. When warm, the
metal expands and bends, as the
two ends are stationary. This band
of metal is connected by a series of
delicate levers with a trap door, which
is opened or closed, more or less, to
control the draft of the lamp. Sometimes

 the tester has not been seen to
vary more than one degree or two in
several days, at other times more.
This machine, after some tinkering,
was used in making the tests mentioned below. I had anticipated,
in particular, to test dent corn raised
in Mississippi or Texas for some
years, by the side of dent corn raised
for some years in Michigan; but the
seed from the South was more or less
infested with insects So it was impossible always to tell which seeds
were sound and which were unsound.
This test was not satisfactory, as will
be seen.
On June 30th, nine candy jars,

101
holding about two quarts each, were
half or two-thirds filled with damp
sand. Each jar contained 20 kernels
of good dent corn, grown at the college
on the previous year. Previous experiments showed that the corn was
in good condition for germination.
The temperature was kept at 130° F.
In one jar, seven kernels sprouted.
None of the rest started. There were
180 kernels in all.

On July 6th, in the same jars of
moist sand, the following seeds were
tested. In this case, the weather
varied considerably and the thermometer in the seed box varied more
than usual, from 117 to 123° F.
There were 50 kernels of sound dent
corn from Michigan, 50 kernels of
sound dent corn from Mississippi, 50
kernels of sound dent corn from Texas,
100 seeds of Turban squash-good
seeds, 50 seeds of Crook Neck squash,
and 50 seeds of nutmeg melon. Not
one seed grew.

On July 20th, the following seeds
were tested in the manner above
described, with the thermometer
ranging from 110° to 115° F. 50
college nutmeg melon seeds all grew,
100 per cent; 50 white spine cucumber, all failed, 0 per cent; 50 Turban
squash, all failed, 0 per cent; 50 kernels of Texas dent corn, 5 grew, 10
per cent; 50 kernels of Mississippi
dent corn, 16 grew, 22 per cent; 50
kernels Michigan dent corn all grew,
100 per cent. The young seedlings,
in all cases, soon showed signs of too
great heat and died. It will be interesting to notice that the dent corn of
Michigan stood a higher heat than
the southern corn, which doubtless
possessed a weaker vitality. Also,
observe that all the college seeds of
melons germinated; that all the seeds
of cucumbers and turban squash
failed. There is something unsatisfactory about the test. Possibly it
may be in the supply of air.

On June 26th, 9 jars contained each
20 kernels, 180 in all, of good Michigan dent corn ; temperature 100° F.
All the kernels but one grew.

On July 27th, the following were
tested at 95 to 100 F .: 50 white
spine cucumber, grown by or sold by
Sibley of Rochester, 10 grew, 20 per
cent; 50 nutmeg melon, grown by or
sold by Sibley of Rochester, 22 grew,
or 44 per cent; 50 early frame cucumber, grown by and sold by Sibley of
Rochester, 11 per cent grew; 30 white
bush squash, grown by or sold by
Sibley of Rochester, 60 per cent grew;
50 white spine cucumber (D. M.
Ferry), 40 per cent grew; 100 nutmeg melon (D. M. Ferry), 67 per cent
grew; 50 Turban squash, good seeds,
grown by Michigan Agricultural College, 66 per cent grew. These experiments, at uniform or nearly uniform
temperatures, need repeating.

VARIATION OF RED CLOVER.
For the past two years, I have been
studying hundreds of plants of red
clover at all seasons and stages of
growth. I have marked and saved
seeds of some twenty-five plants
which have shown the most distinct
and widely different peculiarities.
Of course, we all know that soil and
the distance the plants grow from
each other have very much to do with
the growth of the plants, but these
different conditions cannot be considered as entirely the cause of the present difference in the plants.

1. Individual plants show considerable difference in the earliness of
growth in spring and after cutting.
This is especially true of the stems,
which finally bear the heads of
flowers, Some plants may be seen in
Central Michigan by the first of June
on ordinary seasons, while other plants
are nearly or quite four weeks later.
A considerable portion of this chapter
was presented at the Montreal meeting of the Society for the Promotion
of Agricultural Science.

2. Some plants stool out and send up
many stalks; others, few.

3. On hot, dry days, some plants
wilt, while others show no signs of
wilting.

4. There is a great difference in

102
the heights of plants, even where the
soil appears to be uniform.

5. Some grow erect, even where
there is nothing to crowd them; others
spread out at once, making a very
small angle with the ground.

6. Some stems are large, others
slender.

7. Some plants are densely pubes-
cent, others are nearly smooth, and
between these are all gradations. In
this respect, the same plant varies
with the season.

8. The stems of some are pure light
green or dark green, or tinged with
purple, or even dark purple through-
out.

9. The stems vary much in the
length of internodes and length and
number of branches.

10. On some plants the leaves are
dark green, smooth and thick, with
no trace of light colored spots. On
others, the leaves are light colored,
with or without spots, of variable size
and shape. Some leaves are thin
and flabby.

11. Some coplets are very wide in
proportion to the length, others very
narrow; and between these are ail
gradations.

12. The stipules vary in shape and
color and in the position taken in
regard to the main axis. Some clasp
the main axis with the tips. In other
cases, the tips of the stipules stick out
from the stem. One plant seen had
stipules conspicuously red in stripes.

13. The heads of the flowers, so far
as seen, were sessile, with an involucre
of leaves, which have coplets varying
much in width.

14. The heads vary much in size
and somewhat in shape.

15. The tube and the lobes of the
calyx vary in hairyness and somewhat
in size.

16. The petals vary in length and in
direction taken. Some are scarlet,
others pink, some pale pink, some
creamy white, some erect and quite
close together, others more spreading.

17. Varying with the season and
perhaps the plant, the pistils contain

from 0 to 2 or 3 or even 4 seeds each.

18. Some seeds are dark purple,
others light yellow; between these
are all gradations.

Plant number 1-is early, has the
stems few and small, erect, quite
hairy, purplish; coplets spotted, rather narrow; coplets of the involucre
lance-elliptical.

Plant number 3-is early, has many
young stems, is erect, rather smooth,
purplish; coplets with a faint spot,
nearly round, rather light colored.

Plant number 4-is early, stems
numerous, spreading, quite hairy,
purplish; coplets with a spot, prominent, dark in color.

Plant number 7-is early, stems
many, large, erect, rather smooth,
stem purplish; coplets spotted, rather
broad, of good size, light green;
flowers white.

Plant number 8-is late, stems few,
stout, sprawling, quite smooth, purplish; coplets with scarcely a trace of
a spot, rather narrow.

Plant number 10-has stems, very
early, many, small, short, spreading,
purplish, hairy; leaves few, small,
rather round, a slight spot; heads
small.

Plant number 11-has stems rather
erect, rather hairy, green; leaves
short.

Plant number 13-has small spot
on coplets; stipules conspicuously
striped with red.

Plant number 13-flowers bright
scarlet, like Italian clover.

Plant number 17-is. very late,
stems long, of medium size, spreading about, quite hairy, green; leaves
light green, spot conspicuous.

Plant number 18-is very late, pea
vine, stems few, long, spreading from
the first, heavy, purplish; coplets
with a spot conspicuous, very narrow.

Plant number 19-is a seedling of
dark seeds, stems early, many, tall,
erect, smooth, purplish; coplets rather broad, very dark green, thick, no
trace of spots; flowers dark colored.
This is the best plant, all things considered, which I have seen.

103
It seems to me there is a grand
chance for doing something to improve our red clover by selection and,
perhaps, aided by breeding. We all
know how wonderfully Indian corn
varies. The plant is large and everybody sees it. The time required to
get a race of corn is short-about 4 to
10 years. We gain in uniformity and
excellence in some one or more respects. It looks as though we could
do the same thing for red clover.
This great variation in our fields of
red clover is a broad hint at the results
which may be attained by study and
care. I believe our fields of red clover
to-day contain nearly or quite as great
a variety of plants as would a field of
Indian corn if we were to mix in a
little seed of all the varieties cultivated in any one State. I suppose
for the Northern States we want a
red clover which starts early, grows
rapidly, has numerous, erect, stout,
stems which are not large. The plant
should endure dry weather well, and
seed freely. The plant should be
smooth throughout, with thick leaves.

I remember to have seen something
written by an apiarist, who spoke of
breeding and selecting bees with a
view to get those with tongues long
enough to take nectar from the flowers
of red clover. To obtain this result,
why not save the seeds of the red

clover from which some honey bees
are seen to gather nectar? Plant the
seeds apart from others and repeat the
operation. Our ideal red clover, then,
will have a short corolla, to permit
the visits of honey bees.

This autumn, since writing the
above, I collected within about 10 feet
of each other, some ripe clover heads
from 5 different plants looking much
alike. I selected 50 good heads from
each lot. The seeds were shelled and
counted.
50	heads 	contained	1,260 seeds
50	"		"			1.275	"
50	"		"			1,460	"
50	"		"			1.485	"
50	"		"			1,820	"

Between these extremes is a difference of nearly one-third in the number of seeds. My assistant selected a lot
in another place, 50 heads of which
contained 2,290 seeds, or nearly twice
as much as the lowest of those above
mentioned.

There is a marked difference in the
color of seeds of different plants,
though every seed in any one plant
is not the color of every other seed.
In some plants, nearly all the seeds
were a light yellow; in others, purple
on one side; while others were quite
dark brown. Among those very dark
were a few lighter in color.