Page 6 Advertisements Column 2

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13160, 25 April 1906, Page 6

In a bulletin issued by the United States } Department for Agriculture 011 the " Vitality . of Huried Seeds," a lot of interesting infor- 1 niation is given by Mr. lJuvel. This gentle- i man sums up the results of his numerous 1 experiments as follows:—"The length of time that seeds will retain their vitality ' when buried in the soil is of much import- 1 ance in the extermination of weeds. The 1 seeds of many of our pernicious weeds can ] be destroyed by deep ploughing if the soil , is left undisturbed for some time. Seeds . of the cultivated plants, with but few ex- j ceptions, lose their vitality when buried in the soil. Seeds of the plants commonly de- ; signaled as weeds retain their vitality remarkably well when buried in the soil. Jn general the pernicious character of weeds is directly proportional to the length of time the seeds will remain viable when buried in soil The deeper seeds are buried the better is vitality preserved. Hard seeds of (lie same species retain their vitality much better than those with softer seed ' coats. Unhullecl seed, especially of the 1 grasses, i* more resistant than hulled seed, and the vitality is always better preserved. Seeds of plants from the same genus often 1 retain their vitality in a very different degree. Vitality is best preserved, even in I weed seed.-, when the seeds are carefully har- , vested and stored in a comparatively cool < i and drv place." *