B. V. I.— sn. 



IMPORTED LOW-GRADE CLOVER AND 

 ALFALFA SEED. 



By EoGAK Brown, Botanist in Charge of Seed LahonUortj, and Mamie L. Crosby, 



Assistant, Seed Laboratory. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Diirin<^ the calendar year 1906 the United States exported ;^, 615,873 

 pounds of clover seed, and during the latter half of the same year 

 imported 6,306,561 pounds, the exports for the year being only a 

 a little more than one-half the imports for six months. The same 

 condition holds true with alfalfa seed, the imports far exceeding the 

 exports. The relatively large importation of these seeds results 

 from short crops in this country and a constantly increasing demand 

 on account of the new land being brought under cultivation and the 

 extension of diversified farming. 



Illustrations of tyj^ical samples of imported red clover and alfalfa 

 seed of good quality and that of low grade are shown in Plate IV. 



WHY LOW-GRADE SEED IS IMPORTED. 



In Europe seed testing has been gradually growing in favor for 

 forty years and is now recognized as an important aid to agriculture. 

 All the European countries, with the exception of Spain and Turkey, 

 have seed-testing stations, varying in number from one in Italy to 

 twenty-eight in Germany. Each of them has the necessary equip- 

 ment for making complete tests of seed, both for mechanical purity 

 and for germination. 



The test for mechanical purity as conducted in these stations 

 includes not only the determination of the percentage of pure seed 

 and of other seeds and dirt, but also the size and source of the seed. 

 The source of the seed is determined by the characteristic weed seeds 

 which are found. While errors are no doubt made, these determi- 

 nations are of great value in showing that at least a part of the 

 seed was raised in a certain section, and they furnish information as 

 to the probable adaptabihty of the seed to local conditions. Through 

 the work of these stations the people have come to appreciate the 

 importance of good seed, and as the greater part of that now used in 

 Europe is sold on the basis of accurate tests for mechanical purity and 

 germination the sale of low-grade seed has been greatly reduced. 



A similar condition exists in Canada, where there is a strict law 

 governing the quality of seed sold. In this country, however, only 



in— in jy 



