QUALITY OF FARM SEEDS IN 1911.* 



F. H. HALL. 



That an official inspection of seeds could be made 



very helpful to New York farmers is shown by 



inspection examinations made by the Station during 1911. 



needed. These tests are made by the Station botanists 



from samples of seed sent in voluntarily by 



dealers and purchasers. Such work does not have the range nor 



the accuracy of official collection and analysis ; yet the samples 



examined probably reflect quite accurately the general condition 



of clover and grass seeds sold in the State during the year. 



Dodder seeds were found in one-eighth of the samples of alfalfa 

 seed examined, and in nearly 5 per ct. of those of red clover ; yet 

 dodder is perhaps most to be dreaded of all the weeds that infest 

 these crops. I\ed clover and alsike clover both contained more 

 seeds of noxious weeds than in 1910. Wilful adulteration of seeds 

 was somewhat rare ; yet one sample of red clover contained only 

 5 per ct. of the desired seed, 35 per ct. being alsike clover and 

 60 per ct. yellow trefoil. In this case about four quarts of the 

 trefoil seed had been introduced into the middle of each bag of 

 clover seed and the sample was evidently taken from near the 

 center of the bag so that much of the adulterant was secured. 

 If it had been taken from the top of the bag only, the seed might 

 have shown up well. This illustrates the necessity of drawing 

 some of the sample from different parts of the bag if dependable 

 results are to be secured. Accidental adulteration is not uncom- 

 mon, for yellow trefoil and sweet clover have become so plentiful 

 in many clover and alfalfa fields that the seeds of these weeds 

 were found in considerable quantity in many samples. 



During the year 1911, the Station examined 



Notes on -*^^'-^^ samples, about 70 more than in 1910. Of 



tests these samples, 548 were of alfalfa, 253 of red 



clover, 86 of alsike clover, 98 of timothy and 30 of 



miscellaneous seeds. Many of the samples were 



too small to give dependable tests. The likelihood that a sample 



represents fairly the goods from which it is drawn decreases 



rapidly as the sample falls below certain limits. In official test- 



* A reprint of "Popular Edition" of Bulletin No. 345; see p. 170 for the 

 Bulletin. 



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