STUDIES ON X-AGENT

III. EFFECT ON THE GROWTH OF SEEDS

Abstract

Growth of seeds after a given period of time of germination was found to vary with the time of inoculation or sowing. Observations of growth patterns were made using seeds of two kinds of plant, one of which was a kind of barnyard grass and the other a kind of rape.
The growth rate was likewise altered depending on the day and season the observation was made.
The growth rate was influenced by the material or the substance by which the seeds were covered. Even when the material or the substance was present near them the effect could be demonstrated.
All these phenomena were previously found when Proteus vulgaris was employed in the study. The effect of time and place upon the growth was, however, never always equal between the bacteria and the seeds; that is, a condition favorable for the bacterial growth was not always beneficial to the growth of seeds and vice versa. This was also demonstrated between the two kinds of seeds.