564 EXPEEIMENT STATION RECORD. 



and the department of agriculture of that State. In all 243 samples of seed were 

 collected from 57 dealers in different parts of the State, and subjected to examination 

 for their purity, vitality, and genuineness. They included timothy, Kentucky blue 

 grass, orchard grass, clover (red, crimson, and alsike), onion, cauliflower, and sweet 

 corn. So far as known they were grown in Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Mary- 

 land, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and California. The results of the te.sts are tabu- 

 lated, comparisons being made with seed of standard purity, and the relative cost of 

 the pure germinable seed in each sample shown. 



The clover seeds as a rule were found quite pure. For example, only 3 samples of 

 red clover seed out of 33 examined fell below the standard of puritj'^ and 5 below the 

 standard of germination. The 18 samples of mammoth red clover examined were in 

 general fully up to the required standards in purity and germination. The crimson 

 clover seed was all up to the standard of purity, but some of the seed was old and 

 did not germinate well. Among 39 samples of timothy seed, only 3 fell slightly 

 below the required standard of purity, but several samples were low in germinative 

 ability owing to the seed being old. There was great variation in the germinative 

 power of orchard grass, the range being from 33 to 96 per cent. The greatest extremes 

 in quality were met with in the samples of Kentucky blue grass, and only 4 of the 23 

 samples examined reached the required standard in germination. The author con- 

 cludes that "there are farm seeds placed on sale that are exceedingly poor and even 

 worthless;" and he advocates the passage of a pure-seed law. 



The weeds represented in foreign seeds are briefly described, and the laws of sev- 

 eral States relating to seed inspection are quoted. 



Report of the section of seed control for 1899-1900, A. Voigt {Bot. Mus. u. 

 Lab. Waarenkunde Hamburg, Abt. Samencontrole, 1900, IX, pp. 15). — During the year 

 covered by this report 1,603 samples of seed were examined, 2,169 tests being made. 

 Of the samples received 1,101 were red clover, 103 alsike, 99 white clover, 78 alfalfa, 

 42 timothy, 39 blue grass, 31 orchard grass, 29 bird's-foot clover, and 21 sheep fescue; 

 the others of the 55 species of seed examined ranging from a single sample to 15 or 

 20. Among some of the impurities mentioned were old alsike clover seed colored 

 with analin, sand lucern substituted for alfalfa seed, seed of Brassica juncea for mus- 

 tard seed, etc. A specimen of African oil seed proved to be the seed of Gidzotia 

 abyssinica, and one called Brazilian oil fruit proved to be the fruit of a species of 

 Araucaria. The examination of 967 samples of clover and forage plant seed for 

 dodder showed 66 per cent pure and 11 per cent additional containing but a single 

 dodder seed per hundred grams of the sample. A slight decrease in the total num- 

 ber of samples containing dodder seed is reported. The seed harvest of Germany 

 for the year covered by this report is said to have been a poor one, and as a result 

 numerous sophistications and substitutions are mentioned. The purity and germi- 

 nation tests showed a decided falling off from the percentages previously obtained 

 for many varieties. 



An experiment is reported with hard seed of red, white, and alsike clover, alfalfa, 

 yellow clover, and kidney vetch. Five thousand«eeed of red clover, 1,800 of white, 

 and 1,100 of alsike, and considerably less of the others, were soaked in distilled water, 

 after which they were i^laced to germinate in the laboratory window. The germina- 

 tions at the end of the different months are shown in tabular form. At the end of 6 

 months 60 per cent of the red clover and alsike and 50 per cent of the white clover 

 had germinated, while all of the others had germinated within this time. The mass 

 weight of a number of samples was determined, and observations on the origin, 

 purity, germination, etc., of the different samples are given. 



Impurities of grass and clover seeds, L. R. Jones {Vermont Sta. Rpi. 1900, 

 pp. 287-299) . — The station sent out a request for samples of seed to a number of farm- 

 ers throughout the State, and received more than 200 samples of alsike and red 

 clover, timothy, and other grass seeds. The seeds of timothy and red clover were 



