Excerpt from Agriculture Handbook No. 506
TABLE 15.--Germination of 5 kinds of seeds stored with approximately 4, 7, and 10 percent moisture content at 5 temperatures in various atmospheres in sealed metal cans; check samples were in paper envelopes. Table shows germination after 8 years of storage in indicated atmosphere.
Seed Initial Carbon
Temp Moisture Germination Air Vacuum Dioxide Nitrogen Helium Argon Check
C Percent Percent % % Percent Percent % % %
-12 4 82 84 86 87 86 89 86 78
7 92 87 80 89 89 83 85 78
10 91 80 89 86 82 85 84 83
-1 4 82 85 88 84 91 80 86 66
7 92 83 83 84 81 85 83 71
10 91 70 69 81 81 74 85 75
10 4 82 82 78 82 78 83 88 44
7 92 76 86 78 79 85 86 41
10 91 42 77 74 80 81 85 45
21 4 82 80 85 82 76 88 75 33
7 92 81 89 80 81 82 87 34
10 91 5 11 15 11 7 5 34
32 4 82 80 77 77 72 80 80 71
7 92 69 74 70 76 76 79 69
10 91 0 0 0 0 0 0 73
Seed Initial Carbon
Temp Moisture Germination Air Vacuum Dioxide Nitrogen Helium Argon Check
C Percent Percent % % Percent Percent % % %
-12 4 97 96 96 94 94 96 94 92
7 97 98 97 94 95 97 96 96
10 95 94 95 93 93 92 95 95
-1 4 97 90 95 89 90 93 93 84
7 97 76 62 96 96 95 95 90
10 95 91 91 92 96 93 94 96
10 4 97 90 5 93 95 89 95 0
7 97 1 91 93 94 90 92 0
10 95 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
21 4 97 90 90 92 89 90 93 0
7 97 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 95 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
32 4 97 36 90 92 85 92 88 2
7 97 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 95 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Seed Initial Carbon
Temp Moisture Germination Air Vacuum Dioxide Nitrogen Helium Argon Check
C Percent Percent % % Percent Percent % % %
-12 4 95 87 89 92 92 90 89 86
7 94 83 87 82 89 86 88 88
10 95 79 75 79 85 72 81 88
-1 4 95 91 92 89 93 86 96 90
7 94 90 87 89 84 87 84 86
10 95 72 78 79 70 79 69 88
10 4 95 89 84 91 88 89 89 81
7 94 85 75 75 80 81 81 88
10 95 0 0 0 0 0 0 86
21 4 95 90 67 90 87 90 93 64
7 94 0 0 0 0 0 0 61
10 95 0 0 0 0 0 0 54
32 4 95 89 88 90 86 86 88 53
7 94 0 0 0 0 0 0 60
10 95 0 0 0 0 0 0 53
Seed Initial Carbon
Temp Moisture Germination Air Vacuum Dioxide Nitrogen Helium Argon Check
C Percent Percent % % Percent Percent % % %
-12 4 94 92 90 94 94 93 89 92
7 92 89 90 91 87 88 87 93
10 88 0 0 0 0 0 0 89
-1 4 94 92 89 91 96 89 93 84
7 92 87 85 87 84 87 84 90
10 88 0 0 0 0 0 0 90
10 4 94 90 92 92 92 89 94 88
7 92 0 0 0 0 2 1 95
10 88 0 0 0 0 0 0 84
21 4 94 91 91 93 89 89 94 88
7 92 0 0 0 0 0 0 88
10 88 0 0 0 0 0 0 83
32 4 94 87 84 89 86 87 87 86
7 92 0 0 0 0 0 0 88
10 88 0 0 0 0 0 0 70
Seed Initial Carbon
Temp Moisture Germination Air Vacuum Dioxide Nitrogen Helium Argon Check
C Percent Percent % % Percent Percent % % %
-12 4 92 90 92 89 92 88 92 94
7 95 94 93 91 92 95 86 95
10 91 94 92 93 95 93 92 92
-1 4 92 92 92 92 89 92 90 95
7 95 94 91 93 89 93 91 89
10 91 87 95 92 90 93 86 93
10 4 92 90 92 92 93 91 91 71
7 95 90 87 87 89 88 90 76
10 91 92 83 85 83 85 90 76
21 4 92 83 82 93 84 90 87 55
7 95 86 87 88 87 87 85 84
10 91 72 82 70 75 82 87 80
32 4 92 65 89 82 69 81 90 50
7 95 65 77 70 71 72 74 46
10 91 0 3 0 0 0 0 401. Least significant difference at 5 percent level of probability is 10 percent.