Life Of Seeds
Description
This section is from the "Farm And Garden Rule-Book" book, by L. H. Bailey. Amazon: Farm and garden rule-book
Life Of Seeds
Longevity of Seeds — Continued
Longevity of Seeds — Continued
Haberlandt's figures of longevity (Quoted in Johnson's " How Crops
Grow")
Percentage of Seeds that germinated in | 1861 FROM THE YEARS | |||||||
1850 | 1851 | 1854 | 1855 | 1857 | 1858 | 1859 | 1860 | |
Barley . | 0 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 48 | 33 | 92 | 97 |
Maize . | 0 | not tried | 76 | 56 | not tried | 77 | 100 | 96 |
Oats .... | 60 | 0 | 56 | 48 | 72 | 32 | 80 | 100 |
Rye .... | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 96 |
Wheat . . .. | 0 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 73 | 60 | 84 | 89 |
Vitality of seeds buried in soil (W. J. Beal).
In the fall of 1879, fifty fresh seeds of each of twenty-one kinds of plants (mostly weeds) were mixed with moderately moist sand and placed in uncorked bottles that were buried twenty inches below the surface, with the mouths slanting downward. Acorns were buried near the bottles. Six tests have been made of these seeds. The crosses ( + ) indicate germinations: —
Names of Seeds tested as KNOWN IN 1879 | 5th Year | 10th Year | 15th Year | 20th Year | 25th Year | 30th Year |
Amarantus retroflexus . . . | + | + | + | + | + | + |
Ambrosia artemisisefolia . . | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Brassica nigra............. | ? | + | + | + | + | + |
Bromus secalinus............... | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Capsella Bursa-pastoris . . . | + | ? | + | + | + | + |
Erechtites hieracifolia. | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Euphorbia maculata .... | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Lepidium Virginicum .... | + | + | + | + | + | + |
Lynchnis Githago............. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Maruta Cotula........... | + | + | + | 0 | + | 0 |
Malva rotundifolia .... | + | 0 | 0 | + | 0 | 0 |
Cenothera biennis | + | + | + | + | + | + |
Plantago major............. | 0 | 0 | + | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Polygonum Hydropiper . | 0 | + | + | + | + | possibly |
Portulaca oleracea | 0 | + | + | + | + | 0 |
Quercus rubra.......... | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Rumex cripsus........ | + | ? | + | + | + | + |
Setaria glauca............. | + | + | + | 0 | + | + |
Stellaria media.......... | + | + | + | + | + | + |
Thuja occidentalis........... | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Trifolium repens.......... | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Verbascum Thapsus .... | + | ? | + | + | 0 | 0 |
In all of the six tests, eight species out of twenty-two failed to germinate; and of the remaining fourteen species, seeds of eight, possibly nine, germinated often when they had been buried thirty years. The acorns (Quercus rubra) buried near the bottles of seeds were all dead at the end of two years.
Average Yields of Garden Seed-Crops
When Crop is as good as 20 Bu. of Wheat per Acre would be | When Crop is very HEAVY | |
lbs. of seed per acre | lbs. of seed per acre | |
Bean........... | 600 | 1500 |
Pea.......... | 900 | 2500 |
Squash, summer..... | 100 | 700 |
Squash, winter.............. | 100 | 400 |
Sweet corn....... | 1000 to 2500 (according to variety) | 2500 to 4000 |
Cucumber | 150 | 700 |
Muskmelon......... | 125 | 600 |
Watermelon..... | 150 | 1000 |
Tomato... | 100 | 400 |
Cabbage.............. | 250 | 800 |
The average crop is probably 10 to 20 per cent less than the figures given in the first column.
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