384 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



nized ]).y its lai'ge size i\\n\ tliin, boat-shaped form and the liglit-1)r()\vi] 

 color of the individual seeds. The large, thin, dark-brown grain of the 

 seed is easily distinguished through the papery palea (fig. 11, a) . 



Adulteration of awnless brome-grass seed consists in the use of seed 

 of meadow fescue and of English rye-grass (fig. 11, b and c). The seed 

 of chess, or cheat, sometimes passes in the trade as awnless brome-grass 

 seed. These two kinds of seed are closel^^ ^elated botanically, but they 

 are readily distinguishable under careful observation (fig. 11, a and d). 



One objection to the use of brome-grass seed imported from Europe 

 is that it carries the seed of quack-grass (fig. 17, e). Unfortunately in 

 respect to popular seed testing, awnless brome-grass seed produced in the 

 Northwestern States and in Canada may carry seed of wheat-grass which 

 is so similar to that of quack-grass that the layman is not likel}^ to dis- 

 tinguish them with certainty." 



The number of kinds of weed seeds carried by awnless brome-grass 

 seed is comparatively small, but some of them are very undesirable. 



Awnless brome-grass seed should show purity of 98 or 99 per cent and' 

 viability of 90 to 95 per cent in fourteen days. 



The noxious weed seeds found in this seed include: (Fig. 17) wild oat (b), 

 chess (c), quack-grass (e), black bindweed (g), pennycress (n), field pepper- 

 grass (o), large-fruited false flax (p) ; and field bindweed (fig. 18, e). 



Other weed seeds sometimes appearing in awnless brome-grass seed include: 

 (Fig. 19) soft chess (f), lady's-thumb (k), lamb's-quarters (1), rough amaranth 

 (n); (fig. 20) yellow trefoil (f), sticktight (p) ; and cleavers (fig. 21, h). 



European origin of awnless brome-grass seed is strongly suggested by the 

 presence of seeds of quack-grass (fig. 17, e). false flax (hg 17, p), field bind-^ 

 weed (fig. 18, e), and soft chess (fig. 19, f). 



TESTING SEED OF MILLETS. 



The millets used as forage crops in this country represent three dis- 

 tinct kinds of grasses — the broom-corn, or grain, millets (fig. 31, a), the 

 foxtail millets (German, common and Hungarian (fig. 31, b), and the 

 barnyard and Japanese millets (fig. 31, c). The seed test should show 

 which kind is involved. 



Seeds of the broom-corn millets (fig. 31, a) are mostly free from the 

 brown, papery, loose-fitting chaff; they are broadly oval, robust, highly 

 polished, shining and tend to roll readily on a plane surface. The color 

 varies in difi'erent varieties and includes straw-color, light yellow, orange, 

 gray and dark brown. 



Seed of the foxtail millets (fig. 31, b) appears both with and without 

 the thin, whitish, outer chaff, most of the seeds being free from it. With 



a Circular No. 73 of the Bureau of Plant Industry points out the distinguishing 

 characters of the seeds of quacl<-grass, slender wheat-grass, and western wheat-grass. 



