I bought same seeds from this site.

Since now, with other seeds, results are excellent.

http://www.treeseedonline.com/store/p189/Sugar_Maple_%28acer_saccharum%29.html

Seeds of this maple species have a deep dormancy within them, this requires a degree of patience to overcome and it is usually quite easy to get high levels of germination if the correct procedures are followed.

First prepare a free draining substrate into which the seeds are to be mixed, this can be a 50/50 mixture of compost and sharp sand, or perlite, vermiculite. The chosen substrate needs to be moist (but not wet), if you can squeeze water out of it with your hand it is too wet and your seeds may drown and die. Mix the seeds into the substrate, making sure that their is enough volume of material to keep the seeds separated. Place the seed mixture into a clear plastic bag (freezer bags, especially zip-lock bags are very useful for this -provided a little gap is left in the seal for air exchange) If it is not a zip-lock type bag it needs to be loosely tied. Then write the date on the bag so that you know when the pretreatment was started.

Next the seeds are required to undergo a cold period to break the dormancy, this is easily achieved by placing the bag of seeds and compost in the fridge at (4 Celsius or 39F) for around 12 weeks. It is quite possible for the seeds to germinate in the bag at these temperatures when they are ready to do so, if they do, just remove them from the bag and carefully plant them up. When the period of pre treatment has finished the seed should be ready to be planted. Small quantities can be sown in pots or seed trays filled with a good quality compost and cover them with a thin layer of compost no more than 1cm deep. For larger quantities it is easiest to sow the seeds in a well prepared seedbed outdoors once the warm and cold pretreatments have finished and wait for the seedlings to appear.

It has also been found that fluctuating pretreatment temperatures can give the best germination results and I have myself had excellent results by keeping the mixed seeds in a cold shed through the winter for the cold stage of their pretreatment and allowing the temperature to fluctuate naturally.

Do not expose newly sown seeds to high temperatures (above 25 Celsius). Keep the seedlings well watered and weed free. Growth in the first year is usually between 10 and 40cm depending on the time of germination and cultural techniques and developing seedlings are usually trouble free. Allow them to grow for 1 or 2 years before planting them in a permanent position.

Elektron,
I use damp vermiculite ONLY during cold stratification. No compost. Compost has allot of microbial activity that has the potential to be harmful to the seeds themselves. This may be due to direct attack, or by simply consuming O2. Some seeds this microbial activity may be beneficial (i.e. those with hard seed coats), but I don't believe this to be the case with Sugar Maple group. I also weekly open the bag and flush out the air inside during cold stratification in the refrigerator. For me, Sugar Maple has always germinated in the bag while in cold stratification for me, so keep an eye on them, and make sure you have some kind of lighting system set up so that you can manage them if required before the weather warms enough in spring. I have a table with a lighting fixture housing 4 full spectrum florescent tubes about 18" above the table in the garage. Works very well.

Arktrees

Thank you both very much!