CONDITIONS IN THE RED CLOVER SEED-TRADE OF THE STATE ^* 



FOR THE PRESENT YEAR. 



By O. I. TILLMAN. Botanist. 



From the results of one hundred and twenty tests of red clover 

 seed made the present year, circumstances seem to call for a warning 

 on the matter of the quality of seed offered for sale in the State. It 

 is the progressive and successful farmers who are becoming to more 

 and more recognize the importance of the quality of seed used for 

 planting, as well as better varieties and improved methods and ma- 

 chinery. There are many uncontrollable factors of loss in agricul- 

 ture, but a great and preventable one is the planting of poor seed. 

 Farmers, as a rule, do not realize the extent of the evil and see how 

 the sale of poor seed affects them personally; but the harvest in no 

 small way depends upon the seed sown. There is sown annually a 

 great amount of poor seed, which often contains or is adulterated with 

 the seeds of vile weeds, which frequently cause great injury and loss 

 to the farm. 



Red clover is the principal leguminous crop of the United States 

 and plays an important part in the maintenance of successful agri- 

 culture, and consequently special attention should be given to the 

 quality of the seed, which is frequently impure, adulterated, or dead ; 

 and it certainly would be profitable for the farmers of the State to 

 know the quality of the seed they plant, since of the 120 samples of red 

 clover seed analyzed this year, 31% failed to meet the requirements 

 of the State Seed Act and to come up to the standard of good-gi-ade 

 seed. 



A striking illustration of the fact that there are widely different 

 grades of the same kind of seed on the market, and even at the same 

 price, will be brought out by comparing two samples of seed offered 

 for sale in the State last fall. Figures 1 and 3 are photographs of a 

 sample of good-grade red clover seed, which analyzed 99.6% pure 

 seed, with one kind of weed seed present, and germinated 95%. 

 The actual value or the pure germinable seed of this sample was 

 94.6%. The retail price was 15 cents per pound and the actual cost 

 of the seed was 16 cents. Figures 2 and 4 are photographs of a 

 sample of low-grade red clover seed, which analyzed 74.6% pure 

 seed, the greater part of which were old, shriveled, poor seed, with 26 

 different kinds of weed seeds present, and germinated 41%. Many 

 of the sprouts were weak, and no doubt would be unable to even get 

 through the ground. The actual value or the pure germinable seed 

 of this sample was 30.6%. The retail price was 15 cents per pound, 

 but the actual cost of the seed was 49 cents. The cost of seeding an 



