42 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE). 



conditions. If the farmer does not know what seed is best 

 suited to his conditions, it will certainly pay him to find out. 

 That is what the Experiment Station and Department of Agri- 

 culture are for. 



2. Yielding poiver. Seed that is of any value should yield 

 at a high average rate. A large number of varieties of oats, 

 wheat, barley and even some potatoes are not yielding as high 

 as other varieties that are bringing just as high a price. Yet 

 many of the farmers persist in raising the less desirable and 

 less profitable varieties. 



3. Purity. No seed is of any value as seed unless it is 

 pure. It must be free from all weed seeds and also from seeds 

 of all other varieties of the same crop or other crops. 



The value of having it all of one variety is that it will all 

 ripen at the same time and the yield will accordingly be in- 

 creased and the quality of the seed will be much better than 

 if there were several varieties and some would not be ripe 

 when the rest was harvested. 



4. Quality of the product for marketing and feeding pur- 

 poses. The quality should be such that there will be no diffi- 

 culty in selling it on the open market or to a private trade. 



5. Hardiness. This means the strength and vitality of the 

 seed. The seed that has good vitality is more able to resist 

 poor w^eather conditions and inequalities in the character of 

 the soil. It will also be less easily affected by changes in 

 temperature. 



6. Strength of stalk or straw. This applies largely to grains. 

 Some varieties of grain will not lodge on a sandy soil, but on a 

 rich loam they will lodge. There are also varieties that will 

 not lodge on the rich loam. The grower should get the variety 

 that is best suited to his conditions. 



7. Ability to resist disease. This will apply to a greater 

 or less extent to all crops. It is one of the points that should 

 be more carefully considered than at present. If. for instance, 

 a variety of potatoes can be secured that will not rust, about 

 one-sixth of the cost of production will be avoided. 



Agreeing that the above mentioned points must be had to 

 obtain good seed and get good crops, the points at issue are 



