Testing Farm Seeds. 



349 



of wheat, oats, flax, etc. — can usually be examined by the aid of an or- 

 dinary reading glass, which is to be found in many homes or can be 

 Tsought at a cost of $1 to $2. Clover seed, alfalfa seed and the grass 

 seeds require a magnifier of higher power. A very satisfactory magnifier 

 of this kind is the tripod magnifier, shown in figure 14. With it one can 



distinguish all the kinds of crop 

 seeds and practically all the dif- 

 ferent kinds of adulterants and 

 weed seeds. This magnifier is sold 

 by opticians, stationers and drug- 

 gists generally throughout the 

 country at prices ranging from 50 

 to 75 cents. 



The Paper Tray. — Seed is exam- 

 ined best over white paper, and in 

 order to prevent the loss of seed 

 from a weighed sample, a paper 

 Fig. 14.— Magnifying gia.ss. tray is uscful. Sucli a tray is made 



from stiffish white paper, as a sheet of heavy letter paper. The edges of 

 the sheet on all four sides should be folded over, making a rim one-fourth 

 inch wide. Folding the edges over the straight angular edge of some con- 

 venient object largely prevents the paper from warping and makes it 

 easier to use. Cutting off one comer permits the seed to be poured easily 

 from the tray. 



The Germinator. — Figure 15, showing the simple plate germinator, 

 is self-explanatory. Either blotting paper or cloth may be used to receive 

 the seed. Clean sand may be preferable for some kinds of seed. A 

 germinator of this description is most useful in testing forage-crop seeds 

 or seeds of cereals. In testing corn the sand-box method, described in 

 Farmers' Bulletin 409, entitled "School Lessons on Corn," is very satis- 

 factory, or the cloth method may be employed. This method makes use 

 of a box of convenient size, say 20 inches square, interior dimensions, and 

 2 or 3 inches deep. The seed is placed on white cloth, preferably Canton 

 flannel, which is cross-marked on the smooth side with distinct pencil 

 lines in 2-ineh squares. The required moisture is held by extra thick- 

 nesses of cloth or by clean sand beneath the cloth, forming a layer about 

 an inch thick over the bottom of the box. If Canton flannel (which comes 

 27 inches wide) is to be used instead of sand, the box may be made nar- 

 rower than suggested, say 12 inches, thus allowing for folding the cloth 

 and for shrinkage. 



