Progenies of 60 birdsfoot trefoil plants out of the Russian strain Morshansk which differed in maturity, seed load, and seed size were evaluated for speed of germination, seedling vigor, and rate of tillering.The results indicated that, first, seed load is unlikely to affect greatly the seed size and seedling vigor of the progeny; secondly, late-maturing strains with good seedling vigor can be found; thirdly, in a population of progeny lines, 80% of the lines may be discarded on the basis of seed size without serious danger of discarding much good seedling vigor germplasm; fourthly, plants arising from large seeds had a pronounced tendency to tiller early; and, fifthly, speed of germination may be of considerable value in detecting lines with good seedling vigor in an unselected population, but is of limited value for that purpose within the large-seeded fraction of the population.