New Yoek Agricultural, Experiment Station. 713 



of the samples did not represent fairly the bulk from which they 

 were drawn. 



Some farmers are making a practice of securing a number of small 

 packets or samples of seed from several seedsmen and seed dealers 

 and then mailing them to the Station for a purity test, and later 

 buying their seed or deciding not to buy, upon the results of these 

 tests. Such a procedure should be discouraged, since it is decidedly 

 unfair to honest seedsmen who place in their packets a representative 

 composite sample of the seed they will sell under certain quotations, 

 while other seed dealers are content to fill their sample packets with 

 specially cleaned seed for advertising purposes. Many of these 

 small sample packets contain varying amounts of seed from a few 

 seeds to several grams, and in some cases as much as two ounces. It 

 seems obvious that a comparison of reports upon such widely dis- 

 similar and in some cases unrepresentative seed samples would be 

 of no value as a guide in the intelligent purchase of seeds. Seed 

 should not be bought by sample except in cases where the sample is 

 drawn from the well mixed bulk of seed and is representative of the 

 lot from which it is taken. Samples should contain at least two ounces 

 of seed in most cases and should be accompanied by a time limit 

 within which the dealer agrees to furnish the same seed in bulk. 



The bearing of the seed law is being felt by farmers and seed 

 growers who have seed for sale as is evidenced by the fact that a 

 considerable number of samples have been received from farmers 

 and growers who request that the percentage of pure seed be reported 

 in order that their seed may be properly labeled before selling. The 

 answer to these requests is that the Station cannot undertake 

 commercial work of this nature or make seed tests for each farmer 

 in the State, since what is granted in one case cannot rightfully be 

 refused in another. 



If the number of seed samples from farmers continues to increase 

 as rapidly as in the past it will soon become necessary to place some 

 limitations upon the amount of such work the Station will undertake 

 to do. 



The reports made on samples sent in for testing are for private 

 use only and are not to be used for advertising purposes since they 

 are not a guarantee of the lot from which the sample was taken, 

 and are presumably accurate only for the sample submitted for 

 examination. The Station will refuse to make tests for anyone 

 knowingly or persistently violating this regulation. 



