270 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



cheap, uot realizing that siuh seed is really the dearest seed he can 

 buy, if measured by the amount of pure seed obtained and the time and 

 energy necessary to fight the woods introduced with the i>oor seed. An 

 extra dollar or two f)er bushel for clean clctver or alialla seed will be 

 a good investment. 



There are several points in which the present pure seed law appears 

 faulty, from the standpoint of j)rotoction of the buyer against injury 

 from the presence of liarmful weeds. This will be discussed in the 

 following paragraphs. 



In order to conform with the law governing the insi)ection of fer- 

 tilizers, it would seem advisable to invest the taking of and analysis 

 of seed samples in the State Board of Agriculture. This Board should 

 be authorized to appoint the persons who would collect the samples, 

 make the analyses and ])repare the reports. Violations of the law 

 should be certified by the Board to the proper authorities in order that 

 they may be prosecuted. 



It seems illogical to permit packages of seed weighing under a pound 

 to escape the provisions of the law. It is verj' evident that the lawn 

 grass mixtures previously referred to are especially intended to avoid 

 the penalties for impure seed for almost all cases they are just under 

 a pound in weight. Then there seems to be no good reason why the 

 small packets of seed should not be required to be as pure as seed sold 

 in bulk. If these sealed ])ackets are also made subject to the pure seed 

 law, some provision should be nuide to hold the firm ])utting them 

 up responsible if it is a Michigan firm and not the retailer, provided 

 the latter destroys or returns to the wholesaler, the illegal packets. 

 Of course, if the offending seed firm is one outside of ^richigan the re- 

 tailer must be held responsible. Should this change be made, the man 

 deputized to collect seed samples should be authoiized to take whole 

 packets where these weigh under one ix)und. 



Germination tests should not be required in all cases as they are 

 difficult to make for some kinds of seed and require considerable time 

 and space. However, it seems it might be well to authorize the Board 

 of Agriculture to have such tests made where there is a suspicion that 

 the seed is old and of poor germinating quality. As a standard 

 would be suggested the standards of germination adopted by the Seed 

 Laboratory of the United States Department of Agriculture with the 

 provision that seed falling more than a certain \)ev cent below this 

 standard in their germination should be declared in violation of the 

 law. 



In view^ of the fact that it is practically impossible to nuike investi- 

 gation of seeds from all dealers in the state, it seems unfair to require 

 publication of all analyses. Perhaps it would be fairer to jniblish only 

 those analyses where the person concerned had been convicted by due 

 process of law of having violated the law or only those where samples 

 were taken and analyzed at the demand of some purchaser who suspect- 

 ed the seed of being impure. 



The results of the analyses of seeds as showu in the tables and dis- 

 cussions in the earlier part of the bulletin lead the writer to make the 

 following suggestions regarding sections G and 7 of the law. 



Seeds should fall into three classes, those whose sale is illegal, those 

 which may be sold when accomi)anied with a statement that they 



