EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Vol. VI. No. 11. 



Twenty six years ago, through the activity of Dr. F. !N'obbe, the 

 exijeriment station for plant physiology connected with the Forestry 

 Academy at Tharand, Germany, offered to assist the farmers in the 

 selection and purchase of seed. The station received an annual grant 

 of about $450 from the Agricultural Society of Dresden to aid in carry- 

 ing on its work. This was the beginning of the seed control, which 

 from that time until the present has steadily grown in extent and in 

 usefulness, especially iu European countries. Its history, present ex- 

 tent, methods of work, etc., are described in detail in an interesting 

 paper by B. Jonsson^ on the seed control stations of the world, wbich 

 includes a very complete bibliography of the subject. According to 

 this jjaper there are now 117 stations in active operation outside of the 

 United States. The different countries are said to be represented as 

 follows: Belgium 9 stations, Bulgaria 3, Denmark 1, England and Scot- 

 land 2, France 1, Holland 4, Italy 1, Norway 3, Portugal 3, Eoumania 

 1, Russia 7, Spain 1, Switzerland 2, Germany 38, Hungary 6, Austria 

 14, Sweden 16, Brazil 1, Japan 1, and Java 3. 



In 1877 29 seed control stations were established in Germany, 7 of 

 which were devoted to seed control exclusively, while the rest were com- 

 bined chemical and seed control stations. The first seed control station 

 in Austria was established in 1870, in Denmark in 1871, in Belgium in 

 1875, and in Switzerland and Russia in 1876. 



The organization and working plans of the different stations vary to 

 suit the individual needs of the work, but the modified plans as sug- 

 gested by Dr. Nobbe are the basis for all. The methods of the German 

 stations have been fully described in this journal by Dr. Oscar Burch- 

 ard (E. S. R., 4, pp. 793, 882). In all cases a certain definite sample is 

 required, the size of which depends on the seed to be examined. For 

 the sn)aller and lighter seeds 100 gm. is required, while for the larger 

 seeds the weight of the average sample must be at least 250 gm. From 

 these samples smaller ones are taken and tested for their purity, germ- 

 inative ability, and intrinsic worth. The weight of these smaller 

 samples varies from 2 gm. for the smaller and lighter seeds to 50 gm. 



> Kgl. Landt. Akad. Handl. Tidskr., 33, pp. 257-286 and 321-372. 



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