250 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Tho iinofticial s;mii>les of niixtmrs laekod iiifoiination aj< to whether 

 the proportions of the ingredients were given so that they were omitted 

 from tlie colnnin concerning the mixtures. 



Table II shows the nnnil)er and per cent of samples in which any of 

 the sixteen kinds of noxious weeds appeared together with the number 

 and i>er cent in which any one apix^ared in illegal amount (two per 

 cent or over). 



The nuirked ditl'erence in the relative frequency of noxious seeds in 

 the ofllcial and unoflicial samples is undoubtedly due to the fact that 

 the seed inspector collected mostly those samples that ai>peared to be like- 

 ly to be in violation of tlie law while the unofllicial samples largely repre- 

 sent the general run of seeds sold in the state. A similar ditTerence may be 

 see in Table I in the amount of foreign seed. On the other hand in 

 each year the per cent of samples with five i)er cent or over of inert mat- 

 ter is the same. 



The inert matter in the official samples of 1911 averaged 5.5%, rang- 

 ing from to 83.1%; in the ofTQcial samples 1912, 7.7% ranging from 

 to 81% ; in the unofficial samples 1911, 4.3% ranging from to 48.1%, 

 and unofficial samples 1912, 3.6% ranging from to 60%. The highest 

 amount of noxious weed seed and of total foreign seed were respect- 

 ivelv in the official samples 1911, 20.3% and 30.5%; in the official 

 samples 1912, 11.4% and 19.5%; in the unofficial samples 1911, 5.1% 

 and 20^; and in the unofficial samples 1912, 18.6% and 95%. 



A study of Table II shows that of the sixteen kinds of seeds listed in 

 section six of the pure seed act, two have not ai)peared in any of the 

 1210 samples examined, viz: Hlerachnn aiirantiaciun, Orange Ilawk- 

 weed and Linaria linaria, Butter and Eggs, while one other Thkispl 

 (irvensc. Penny cress, apix^ared in but one sample. Of the others, 

 f'lantago lanccolata, Ruckhorn or Ribgrass, Plantaqo rugclii, RugeFs 

 Plantain, Sihuc noctifiora. Night Flowering catchfly, Canhtus ancn- 

 sis, Canada thistle and the various kinds of Cuscuta, Dodder, were 

 fairly frequent in the order given. Probably the large number of 

 samples containing buckhom and Rugel's i)lantain among the official 

 samples is due to the fact that red clover seed in which these are prob- 

 ably the most frequent contaminations made up a very large propor- 

 tion (427o in 1911 and 45% in 1912) of the samples. The absence or 

 small number of samples in which some of the noxious seeds appeared 

 is due in some cases e. g. penny cress and false llax, to the compara- 

 tive rarity of these weeds in the state. In the case of orange hawk- 

 weed which is now quite widely distributed in the northern part of 

 the lower peninsula, the smallness and lightness of the seed exclude 

 it from being present as a contamination in other seeds while the 

 lightness of the seed of the too common butter and eggs wwuld prevent 

 it remaining in any seed during its cleaning. Still others e. g. quack 

 grass and the mustards, would probably have been found much more 

 abundantly had more samples of small grain and some of the gra.ss 

 seeds (e. g. brome grass, meadow oat grass, etc.) been examined. 



In order that these noxious weeds should be present in quantities 

 sufficient to be illegal, i. e. two [wn" cent, the actual number of such seeds 

 allowed would be immense in some cases. This is sho\\Ti by the fol- 

 lowing table (Table III) in which are shown the numbei's of seeds 

 of each of the sixteen noxious kinds that would be present in a pound 

 in A\liic1i these seeds are present to the amount of two per cent. 



