While I was cleaning my allium seeds I shook the sieve a bit too vigourously and scattered seeds on the table. In picking them up, I gripped one too hard and it disintegrated. It had looked perfectly sound, so I tested more and my fingers pulverized them, too. Maybe the lighter bad seeds had ended up at the top of the sieve, so they were the ones that flew out. I grabbed a pinch of seeds from further down in the sieve, and rubbed them between my fingers. Most remained intact, but not all. I have never done this before, either with seeds I have donated, or seeds I have received or bought. I don't always have good success germinating alliums, and perhaps this may be one reason why. How common is it to have allium seeds that look perfectly sound, but aren't? Is there an easy way to test them? I don't want to rub each seed before I donate it. Would putting them in water so that the bad ones float be a good way? Diane Whitehead Victoria, British Columbia, Canada maritime zone 8, cool Mediterranean climate mild rainy winters, mild dry summers