Florida Agricultural Experiment Station


no evidence that seed condition is limited at the coincident point
of germination threshold or that after-ripening has an end point
there. Storage tests reported in Figure 2 indicate that after-
ripening may continue beyond the germination threshold. Cold
treatment induced rest requirement immediately (curve "b")
when after-ripening had just reached the germination level.
Ten days later (curve "c") approximately 10 additional days
of cold storage elapsed before rest requirement reappeared. It
is conceivable that the mean seed condition of some genetic
types of peanuts is already beyond the threshold of germination
when maturity is reached. Seed condition at maturity may be
a typical quantitative character with near normal frequency
distributions in homozygous and heterozygous samples. Some-
where near the mid-point of its range may be the critical point
of germination threshold which coincides with zero rest period.
On one side of that point the requirement for immediate ger-
mination is equaled or exceeded and rest period is uniformly
zero. On the other side the requirement is not met and the
varying degrees of deficiency are reflected in rest periods of
varying duration.
TABLE 2(b).-COMPARISONS OF MORE DORMANT STRAINS OF PEANUTS BY
 MEAN DIFFERENCES AND THEIR STANDARD ERRORS.
 (Differences in bold face type are thought to be significant as judged by
 their standard errors and the germination of the two lots.)

 Pedigree 14-32 14-31 15-31 11-31 8-31
 21-32 24.0 11.4 42.4 15.9 49.1 20.2 58.9 13.9 98.5 15.4
 14-32 25.1 17.7 34.9 10.0 74.5 12.0
 14-31 6.7 20.8 16.5 14.9 56.1 16.3
 15-31 9.8 19.4 49.4 20.5
 11-31 _____39.6 14.4

 Such relation between rest period and seed condition with
a large non-genetic variance of seed condition would produce
frequency distributions of rest period in a series of types like
that obtained. A sample with mean seed condition far beyond
the germination threshold might have one end of its distribu-
tion, due either to genetic or non-genetic variance, extending
across the threshold and exhibit short rest periods in a few
seeds. Most of its frequency would be in the first class. A
sample with mean seed condition at the germination threshold