CALIFORNIAN-THISTLE SEED.
THE QUESTION OF GERMINATION.
A. H. Cockayne.
Quite a general impression exists among farmers, more particularly in the South Island, that the seed of Californian thistle will not germinate, especially that found in imported lines of agricultural seeds, notably alsyke. Recently . Degegen, of the Buda-Pesth Seed-control Station, sent me Californian thistle seed taken from .a European . grass-seed sample, to ascertain if they would germinate on arrival in New Zealand. The seed was put -to . germinate, and 25 per cent, sprouted within twenty-one days. This definitely shows that the presence of Californian thistle in imported seed is a distinct menace. With regard to the seed of the New Zealand Californian thistle, this germinates quite freely under the ordinary methods employed for the determination of the vitality of seeds. It is significant that the impression that Californian-thistle seed will not germinate in New Zealand invariably prevails in districts where the weed is most prevalent. Is it that the wish is father to the thought ? .
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Bibliographic details
New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume VI, Issue 2, 15 February 1913, Page 169
Word Count
164CALIFORNIAN-THISTLE SEED. New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume VI, Issue 2, 15 February 1913, Page 169
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