The vitality of seeds buried in the soil
BY W. J. BEAL.

IN autumn of 1879, nearly six years ago, I began the following experiments with the view of learning something more in regard to the length of
time the seeds of some of our most common plants would remain dormant
in the soil and yet germinate when exposed to favorable conditions.
I selected fifty freshly-grown seeds of each of twenty-three different
kinds of plants. Twenty such lots were prepared with the view of testing
them at different times in the future. Each lot, or set, of seeds was well
mixed in moderately moist sand, just as it was taken from three feet below
the surface, where the land had never been plowed. The seeds of each set
were well mixed with the sand and placed in a pint bottle, the bottle being
filled and left uncorked, and placed with the mouth slanting downward so
that water could not accumulate about the seeds. These bottles were
buried on a sandy knoll, in a row running east and west. A boulder stone
was set at each end of the row of bottles, which were buried about twenty
inches below the surface of the ground. I should make an exception in the
case of the acorns, which were placed in the soil near the bottles, and not
inside bottles.

On the 25th of July, 1884, I took up one of these bottles and began testing the contents. I might say, that after three years, I dug down to the
acorns and found them all decayed. The other seeds were not disturbed
at that time. The sand was kept moist by being placed in some shallow
porous saucers, which were set in a very little water near the south window of our botanical laboratory. During a part of August the weather
was unusually cool, but at other times and in September it was very warm.
The sand was exposed in this way, drying out once or twice, till the middle of November, when it was dried and kept in a cool room over winter,
and not disturbed till June 25th, 1885.

This was the first freezing to which any of the seeds had been exposed.
On the date last given the sand was again moistened and exposed in test
plates. Some seeds germinated promptly and were occasionally removed
for about three weeks, when, on the 21st of July, the sand was well dried in
the sun from the next day till July 25th. The sand was again moistened
during very warm weather, when two seeds, besides those below marked,
germinated. These two were both those of pepper-grass.

The sand will still be kept over next winter, and again tested.

If we are unable to give good reasons for the long time required for
some seeds to germinate, we cannot fail to see that it is beneficial to the
plants. If all started promptly at once, they would crowd each other and
most must perish. If they come straggling along at different times, some of
them will find favorable conditions for growth and the production of more
seeds, one good crop of which will stock the earth for years to come.

Amaranthus retroflexus, L. Pigweed; 19 germinated in 1884. 2 in 1885.

Ambrosia artemisiafolia, L. Rag-weed; 0 germinated certainly. Several
empty rotten coverings or shells were seen.

15

Brassica nigra, Koch. Black mustard; 0 certainly.

Bromus secalinus, L. Chess cheat; 0 certainly. Several old kernels,
with chaff adherent, were found, but all were decayed and empty. In at
least three instances, one or more dead slender roots were found, showing
that they had sprouted and died while in the bottles under ground.

About the next two species there was some confusion, but certainly
some of each germinated in 1884 and in 1885.

I give the numbers about in the right proportion.

Capaella Bursa-pastoris, Moench. Shepherd's Purse; 43 in 1884, 7 in 1885.

Lepidium Virginicum, L. Pepper-grass; 36 in 1884, 11 in 1885. *

Erechthites hieracifolia, Raf. Fire-weed, such as springs up freely about
new clearings; 0 certainly.

Euphorbia maculata, L. Spotted spurge; 0 certainly. In 1884 quite a number of seeds were found, and they seemed plump and sound, but none
sprouted,

Lychnis Githiago, Lam. Common cockle, such as infests wheat-fields;
0 certainly. Many old empty coverings were seen.

Anthemis Cotula, L. Mayweed; 14 germinated in 1884, 12 in 1885.

Malva rotundifolia, L. Common mallow; 1 (?) germinated. Many empty seed-coats were seen.

Oenothera biennis, L. Evening primrose; 40 germinated in 1884, 1 in
1885.

Plantago major, L. Common broad-leaved plantain; 0 certainly. Some
empty seed-coats were seen.

Polygonum Hydropiper, L. Smart-weed; 3 certainly. Many empty
seed-coats were seen.

Portulaca oleracea, L. Purslane; 19 germinated in 1884.

Quercus rubra, L. Red-oak; 0 certainly. All dead after three years.

Rumer crispus, L. Narrow, or curled, dock; 44 germinated in 1884, 1 in 1885.

Setaria glauca, Beauv. -Fox-tail. Pigeon-grass. This is the species requiring most heat and the one starting last of the two common weeds; 13
germinated in 1884, 21 in 1885.

Stellaria media, Smith. Chick-weed; 36 certainly in 1884.

Thuja occidentalis, L. Arbor Vita, or white cedar; 0 certainly. Many
empty seed-coats were seen.

Trifolium repens, L. White clover; 2 in 1884. This small number is
quite surprising.

Verbascum Thapsus, L. Common mullein; 38 germinating in 1884, 4 in
1885.