1124 



EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



samples referred to above ranged in inipnrities from lil.ij to loo per cent, in 

 trash or dirt from 0.8 to 31.9 per cent, and In the numlier of kinds of foreign 

 seed present from 3 to 34 per cent. 



The anionnt of English blue grass seed tested in the fall of 1!M)."> contained 

 less than 50 per cent of germinable seeds, and the percentage of weed seed was 

 so high that on each acre there was sown with this seed 142,230 seeds of crab 

 grass, 111,000 seeds of dock. 393,070 smartweed seeds, 02,340 cheat seeds, 

 together with 111,000 miscellaneous seeds, making a grand total of 820,240 weed 

 seeds of all kinds. The crop harvested from this seed contained only about 15 

 per cent of English bluegrass seed, while 79 per cent was cheat and such weeds 

 as bindweed, dock, foxtail, and pigweed. A comparison of the different grades 

 of seed estimated and determined by the station is given in the following table: 



TJie cost per acre of standard and poor seeds compared. 



Samples. 



Alfalfa 201. 



Alfalfa 20 



Alfalfa 215 



Alfalfa 227 



Alfalfa 267 



Alfalfa standard 



English blue grass 284 



English blue grass 375 



English hluf grass standard 



Brome grass 107 



Brome grass 229 



Brome grass standard 



Good 

 seeds. 



Per ct. 

 52.0 

 73.6 

 66.3 

 42.0 

 20.3 

 83.3 

 49.3 

 43.4 

 80.7 

 49.5 

 32.4 

 67.5 



Seed re- 

 quired 

 per acre. 



Lbs. 



28.7 

 20.3 

 22.5 



a5.7 



73.9 

 15.0 

 105. 4 

 120.0 

 50.0 

 50.0 

 77.0 

 2.5.0 



Cost of 

 seeding 



Germina- 

 ble seed, 

 cost per 

 bushel. 



Weed seeds 

 per acre. 



^.63 

 3.07 

 3.63 

 5. 75 i 



11. 92 

 2.42 

 1.05 



12.00 

 5.00 

 3.85 

 8.25 

 2.68 



119. 21 



13. 58 



15.00 



23.80 



49.26 



12.00 



4.05 



4.80 



2.47 



3.00 



4.65 



2.38 



93, 910 

 238, 750 

 313, 730 

 167,470 

 4,241,950 



820,240 

 36, 000 



157,000 

 207^900 



Weeds 

 per 



.square 

 foot. 



2 

 5 



7 



3 



105 



The seed law proposed for the State, requiring a guaranty of 85 per cent of 

 germination and imposing a tax of one-flfth of a cent on all seed packets less 

 than 1 lb. and of one-fifth of a cent per pound for all seed in bulk, is discussed. 



The destruction of wild mustard by spraying and the influence of the 

 weather jon the effectiveness of this method, II. Henneberg (Jour. Laiidic, 

 55 (1907), ^'o. 1-2, pp. 93-121). — An historical note on the destruction of wild 

 mustard by spraying is given, and the results of a series of experiments are 

 reported. 



It is recommended to spray copiously when the wild mustard plants are still 

 quite young and during a period of settled weather. 



HORTICULTUEE. 



Report of the horticultural division, F. W. Card, M. A. Blake, and H. L. 

 Barnes (Rhode Island Hta. Rpt. 1906, pp. 159-175, y^/.s-. 7). — This is a report of 

 the various horticultural Investigations conducted at the station, of which the 

 work on market-garden rotation, soil sterilization, and vegetable tent experi- 

 ments have been continued from the previous year (E. S. R., 17, p. 861). 



An attempt was made to exterminate charlock, or wild radish, from grain 

 fields by spraying with the following solutions : Sixty pounds of copperas in 40 

 gals, of water, and 12 lbs. of copper sulphate in 40 gals, of water. The copper 

 suljihate was applied .Tune 8 and the copperas or iron sulphate .Tune 14. The 

 charlock was then in bloom and too tall to be effectually reached by the spray 

 with the machine used. .Tudging from this experiment it is concluded that a 

 spray of copper sulphate of the strength as here used, if applied in the earlier 

 stages of the weed growth, would prove decidedly effective in destroying char- 

 lock, with no permanent injury to the grain crop. 



