Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
1929 - Discovery of the luorescence test for ryegrass by Gentner (Gentner, 1929).
1931 - The irst set of international rules by the International Seed Testing Association (ISTA, 1931).
1939 - Passage of the Federal Seed Act in the United States (Rollin and Johnston, 1961).
1940 - Rules and Regulation Under the Federal Seed Act published.
1942 - R. H. Porter and G. W. Leggatt developed a new concept of pure seed known as the “Quicker
Method,” in contrast to the “stronger method” (Porter and Leggatt, 1942).
G. Lakon irst reported on the tetrazolium technique as a measure of seed viability (Lakon, 1942).
1947 - D. Isely published the irst comprehensive key for seeds using family characteristics entitled
“Investigations in Seed Classiication by Family Characteristics” (Isely, 1947a).
1948 - F. Flemion described an embryo excision technique to determine germination of dormant tree and
shrub seeds (Flemion, 1948).
1950 - Publication of D. Isely of “The Cold Test for Corn,” based on experience from Pioneer Hybrid
Seed Company and several other seed companies who originated the cold testing technique to test
the emergence of treated vs. untreated hybrid seed corn planted in cold, microorganism-infested
soil (Isely, 1947b).
1951 - Publication of a list of 113 kinds of seed classiied as crops or weeds. This publication led to the
development of an AOSA handbook on the “Uniform Classiication of Crop and Weed Seeds.”
1952 - The team of Borthwick, Hendricks, Parker, Toole, and Toole demonstrated the reversibility of the
light response controlling the stimulation and inhibition of lettuce seed (Borthwick et al., 1952).
The photo-receptive pigment controlling this response was later isolated by Butler et al. (1959) and
named “phytochrome.”
Publication of the topic “Testing Agricultural and Vegetable Seeds.” This topic not only remains
a standard classic guide for seed analysis, even today, but contains the original ifteen seed plates
developed by F. A. Hillman in 1902 and also plates of many other drawings done later by Hillman,
Helen H. Henry, and Regina O. Hughes. These drawings alone make it invaluable to every seed
laboratory (Justice, 1952).
1957 - J. Varner irst described the role of the phytohormone gibberellic acid in the germination of seeds.
1960 - L. E. Everson and T. C. Chen developed the Climax Blowing Point for purity analysis of Kentucky
bluegrass (Everson and Chen, 1960). This method had been previously suggested by C. W. Leggatt
in AOSA Committee Reports in 1940 and 1941.
1961 - The USDA published “Seeds,” a comprehensive Yearbook of Agriculture that assembled much of
the current knowledge of the time on seed testing and production (Stefferud, 1961).
1963 - The USDA published Handbook 219 “Identiication of Crop and Weed Seeds,” which provided 36
plates of detailed seed drawings (Musil, 1963).
Publication of C. R. Miles' “Handbook of Seed Testing Tolerances” by the International Seed
Testing Association (Miles, 1963).
1967 - C. E. Vaughan and other Mississippi State colleagues published “Seed Processing and Handling
Handbook” that became an essential reference for understanding the principles and operation of
seed cleaning equipment (Vaughan et al., 1967).
1970 - AOSA published the “Tetrazolium Testing Handbook,” which provided for the irst time recom-
mended procedures and interpretations for seeds for TZ evaluations (Grabe, 1970). This handbook
was revised in 2000 and 2010.
1973 - E. H. Roberts proposed the term “recalcitrant” seeds to describe a class of seeds that are short-lived
when dried in contrast to “orthodox” seeds which are long-lived when dried (Roberts, 1973).
1975 - W. Heydecker et al. irst proposed the process and beneits of seed priming to improve the unifor-
mity and speed of emergence of seeds planted in the ield (1975).
1976 - L.O. Copeland published “Principles of Seed Science and Technology.”
1977 - Publications by Baskin (1977) and McDonald and Phaneendranath (1978) led to the use and stan-
dardization of the accelerated aging test for seed vigor.
