HASTENING THE GERMINATION OF SOME CONIFEROUS SEEDS

Germination experiments on southern pine seeds (Pinus taeda, Pinus echinata, Pinus caribaea, and Pinus palustris) conducted in this laboratory in 1928 (Barton, I) have been extended to include seeds of a number of different species of pine together with several other conifers.It seemed desirable to ascertain the response of these different forms to low temperature stratification which proved effective in hastening the germination of the southern pines.The present paper reports results of these tests on both 1927 and 1928 crops of seed.Of the 1927 crop the seeds tested were: Pinus austriaca, Pinus Banksiana, Pinus Cembra, Pinus densiflora, Pinus excelsa, Pinus flexilis, Pinus insignis, Pinus Laricio, Pinus Lambertiana, Pinus monticola, Pinus contorta Murrayana, Pinus ponderosa I, Pinus ponderosa II, Pinus resinosa, Pinus Strobus, and Pinus Thunbergii.All of these seeds except those of Pinus flexilis, were obtained from Thomas J. Lane, seedsman, and were received in this laboratory in July 1928, when germination tests were started.They were collected in the fall of 1927 and presumably were kept in dry storage at room temperature up to the time of shipment.fhe 1928 crop of seeds included Abies arizonica, Cupressus macrocarpa, Libocedrus