712 Report on Inspection Work of the 



seed or unlabeled seed of poor quality upon the market during the 

 past season. 



The present seed law affords only partial protection since it does 

 not require a reasonable freedom from dodder or other noxious weed 

 seeds, or a certain freedom from inert matter. It is therefore evident 

 that every purchaser of seeds must, in the absence of any statement 

 concerning the amount or nature of the impurities present, rely 

 upon his own ability to judge of the quality of the seed he intends 

 to purchase, since the 3 per ct. by count allowed by the law 

 affords ample opportunity for the introduction of a large number 

 of noxious weeds upon the farm. Upon the other hand, the fact 

 that a quantity of seed contains in excess of 3 per ct. by 

 count of seed impurities and is therefore labeled does not by any 

 means indicate that such seed contains noxious weed seeds and is 

 to be looked upon with suspicion, or is of materially lower value 

 for seeding purposes, since some crop seeds are contaminated through 

 natural infestation with another crop seed of similar size and weight 

 which makes its removal a practical impossibility. A large amount 

 of the alsike clover seed produced during the past season is con- 

 taminated with the seed of white clover to such an extent that labeling 

 Avill be required in most cases. Timothy seed also occurs in alsike 

 clover seed, in considerable amounts in many instances, through 

 natural infestation. 



Purchasers of seeds may utilize the official reports to a certain 

 extent as a guide to the character of the seed sold by some dealers, 

 and the uniform grade or quality of some brands of seed. 



II. VOLUNTARY EXAMINATIONS FOR 

 CORRESPONDENTS. 



During the past year 975 samples of seed have been received from 

 correspondents for purity examination. The greater proportion of 

 the samples were those of alfalfa, with timothy and red clover 

 coming next in number. These voluntary examinations revealed 

 approximately the same conditions regarding the purity of the seed 

 upon the market as was reported in Bulletin No. 362 from this 

 Station covering the seed examinations made during the year 1912. 

 As has been the experience of former years, a great many of the 

 samples were entirely too small for a dependable analysis, and many 



