916 Popular Editions of Station Bulletins of the 



No samples contrary to law were found in alfalfa, crimson clover, 

 millet, orchard grass, rape or vetch; but the orchard grass con- 

 tained too large an amount of rubbish to entitle it to very high 

 grade. 



From some of the cases mentioned above it will 

 Seed law be seen that the seed law does not safeguard the 



only partial purchaser to anything like the same extent as other 



protection, inspection laws. The fertilizer law requires the 

 manufacturer or dealer to guarantee the amount of 

 valuable ingredients in the brand ; and the feeding stuffs law demands, 

 in addition, that one rather undesirable ingredient, fiber, shall not 

 exceed a certain minimum without an explicit statement, among 

 the other guarantees, of its presence and amount, and also that all 

 constituents of mixed feeds shall be named on the container. 



The seed law, on the contrary, requires no guarantee of the amount 

 of pure seed, but merely that a label must be used if the seeds contain 

 "in excess of three per centum ... of foul or foreign seeds." This 

 makes it very necessary for the purchaser to examine closely the seed 

 he is about to buy, even if he has the dealer's guarantee that it com- 

 plies with the law. Personal examination will usually detect any 

 considerable amount of rubbish present, like sand, gravel, chaff, 

 pieces of plant stems, joints of grasses or similar material, for such 

 substances are much more easily recognized than foreign seeds. If 

 the seed appears to contain considerable amounts of such rubbish, 

 the buyer should insist that it be cleaned before he takes it, secure 

 a reduction in price proportionate to the amount of impurity, or 

 look elsewhere for his supply. 



The seed buyer should also make sure that the seeds of per- 

 nicious weeds are not included among the impurities in the seed he 

 secures. 



Alfalfa seed under the limit of " three per centum of foul or 

 foreign seeds " and hence legally sold without a label, might contain 

 enough wild mustard seeds to give 120,000 plants of this pest to the 

 acre, enough of Canada thistle to give 300,000 plants, or of alfalfa 

 dodder to give 350,000 plants. 



Again, the samples of seeds do not represent goods that are likely 

 to be as uniform in source and quality from year to year as are the 

 standard brands of fertilizers and feeds. 



For these reasons, the seed inspection bulletin under the present 

 law can not be as useful a guide in the purchase of seeds as are the 

 other inspection bulletins in respect to the goods they cover. How- 

 ever, the knowledge that the seeds they handle are liable to sampling 

 and analysis, with public announcement of the results and prosecu- 

 tion for violations, makes dealers much more careful in regard to 

 seed quality, so that, as we have seen, there has been a general, 

 and not inconsiderable, improvement in seed-trade conditions in 

 1913 as compared with 1912. 



