208 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



It is, however, gratifying to know that this illegitimate practice is 

 at present much less common than it was a few years ago. 



Foreign Seeds, Weeds. — Aside from the presence of a considerable 

 quantity of broken seed and dirt, the majority of commercial samples 

 contain a large number of seeds other than red clover. In many 

 instances these are seeds of many of our most noxious weeds. 



Every institute worker present this evening, however, knows only 

 too well what the presence of bad weeds mean on the farm. Every 

 farmer in the United States, at least every good farmer, realizes 

 that many dollars could be added to his bank account every year 

 were it not for the weeds. They rob the soil of the nourishment 

 which is needed for bi,'inging our crops to the highest state of ma- 

 turity and productiveness. They crowd out the young and tender 

 plants which cannot survive without the requisite amount of light 

 and air. Likewise, the amount of time spent with the scythe or 

 hoe, cutting thistles, burdocks, cockleburs, plantains, dandelions, 

 wild carrots, wild parsnip and scores of others, is a bugbear to suc- 

 cessful farming and particularly to the farmer's boys. 



Some of you no doubt want to ask where the weeds all come from. 

 This can be best explained by means of the results of the analyses 

 as shown in Chart I. Sample Number 1 contains no weed seeds, the 

 seed has been well cleaned and is of extremely good quality in this 

 respect. Sample Number 2 contains fifteen different kinds of v/eed 

 seeds, aggregating 3,253 in every pound of red clover seed. Seeding 

 at the rate of 12 pounds per acre, means that the farmer himself has 

 bought from his seedsman and sown on each acre 39,036 weed seeds, 

 representing fifteen different kinds. This rate of seeding is nearly 

 four times as great as the number of corn stalks on an acre, allow- 

 ing three stalks for every hill of three and one-half feet. Samples 

 3 and 4 contain approximately the same number of weed seeds as 

 sample Number 2, yet the number of weed seeds in either of these 

 three samples is relatively small when compared with the average 

 quality of commercial red clover seed. Sample Number 5 contains 

 nineteen different kinds of weed seeds, aggregating 21,156 seeds iu 

 every pound of red clover seed. These were made up of buckhorn, 

 broad plantain, barbed plantain, wild carrot, sorrel, curled dock, 

 lamb's-quarters, pigweed, spurge, catchfly, chickweed, pennyroyal, 

 five-finger, foxtail, three kinds of panic grass and two kinds of quack 

 grass. In addition to these there was present timothy, Kentucky 

 bluegrass, v/hite and alsike clover which of course, are not considered 

 as weeds. This sample was offered by a western seed-house as 

 ''Strictly Prime Seed." 



Sample Number 6 contains forty different kinds of weed seeds 

 and Number 7 contains twenty-six different kinds, the former having 

 38,334 and the latter 73,705 Aveed seeds in each pound of red clover 

 seed. Every twelve pounds of seed (an average amount sown per 

 acre) from lot Number 6 contains 460.008 weed seeds, while twelve 

 pounds from lot Number 7 contains 885,180 weed seeds. The former 

 will give 10 weed seeds and the latter 20 weed seeds on each and 

 every square foot of soil. 



I think with this there is no longer any question as to where our 

 weeds come from. When they once get into the soil their eradi- 

 cation is a very difficult task. Our seedsmen, you know, are gener- 

 ous and I presume give these as premiums with agricultural seeds, 



