176 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



SEED TESTING FOR FARMERS. 



PURITY, VITALITY. 



BY B. O. LONGYEAB. 



Bulletin No. 212. 



"What will the harvest be?" This is a question which depends for an answer, 

 to no small extent, upon the character of the seed sown. For no matter how 

 fertile the soil nor how well prepared the seed bed if the seed is lacking in vitality 

 or freedom from noxious weed seeds the highest results cannot be realized. That 

 we shall reap as we have sown is doubtless accepted by every agriculturist, in a 

 general way, and yet a great deal of poor seed, often containing seeds of the vilest 

 weeds is sown every year in this State. Many of these seeds are brought from 

 other states and from Europe and in this way some of the worst weeds from other 

 parts of the world have become established on the farms of Michigan where they 

 have found a congenial home and from which they can not be eradicated except 

 with much labor and expense. The possession of some knowledge in the selection 

 and testing of farm seeds is therefore highly important to the farmer. 



It is the purpose in this bulletin to give some short, simple directions for exam- 

 ining and testing farm seeds, together with descriptions and figures of a few of the 

 commonest and worst weed seeds found in such seed. Seeds may be deficient in two 

 respects, — first in purity, second in vitality. Impurities usually consist of — 



(«) Inert matter, such as hulls and pieces of stems, fragments of quartz or 

 other mineral substances, insect castings, etc. 



(&) Seeds of noxious weeds. 



Inert foreign matter may be present from lack of care and thoroughness in 

 cleaning the seed, or in some cases may have been purposely added to give more 

 bulk and weight to the seed. In some cases quartz sand screened to the proper 

 size has been used even in considerable amounts, as an adulterant. 



The presence of weed seeds is due, of course, to the presence of weeds in the 

 fields from which the seed was harvested and to insufficient care in cleaning. Occa- 

 sionally too, seeds are adulterated by being mixed with other seeds closely resem- 

 bling them. In this case the seed used as the adulterant is cheap and from some 

 inferior kinds of plants. 



Vitality of seeds is dependent upon their age, proper maturity when harvested, 

 care in harvesting, and proper storage. In many cases, doubtless, old seeds of 

 low vitality have been mixed with new seed, by seedsmen, in order to get rid of 

 old stock. In any case a germination test is necessary in order to learn the vitality 

 of a given sample. 



While the foregoing remarks apply especially to seeds of clover, alfalfa, and the 

 grasses, they are also applicable in a measure to larger seeds such as corn, beans, 

 oats, wheat, sugar beets, etc. 



PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION FOB IMPURITIES. 



In making an examination of any sample of seed a person should be supplied 

 with a few inexpensive articles all of which, with perhaps the exception of a lens, 

 can be found in any home. The lens may he any simple pocket magnifier giving 

 an enlargement of about five to ten diameters. Such lenses can often be purchased 

 at jewelry stores or the local optician's for twenty-five cents, for a single lens, 

 or forty to fifty cents for two lenses. A sheet of foolscap or other smooth white 

 paper and a fruit knife or pocket knife complete the outfit for this work. The 

 paper may have the edges turned up about one-fourth of an inch which will pre- 

 vent the seeds from rolling off during examination. 



For the examination of clover, alfalfa and similar seeds one or two tablespoon- 



