38 



HORTICULTURE 



January 11, 1919 



SEED TRADE 



AMERICAN SEED TRADE ASSOCIATION 



Officers — President, F. TV. BolgUno, 

 Washington, D. O. ; First Vice-President, 

 Wm. O. Scarlett, Baltimore, M.I ■ Second 

 Vice-President, David Bnrpee, Philadel- 

 phia, Pa.; Secretary-Treasurer, C B. 

 Kendel, Cleveland, O. 



Investigate Quality of Seed. 

 Nearly 17,000 samples of seed were 

 received for test last year at the seed- 

 testing laboratory of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture in Wash- 

 ington, and 11,349 samples at the five 

 branch laboratories maintained in co- 

 operation with state institutions. All 

 of these samples were examined to 

 determine the quality of the seed and 

 the presence of adulterants. The en- 

 forcement of the seed-importation act 

 has served to prevent many shipments 

 of imported seed, unfit for seeding 

 purposes, from being distributed in 

 their original condition. Among these 

 shipments over 675,000 pounds of red 

 clover seed were prohibited entry on 

 account of the presence of weed seeds 

 and dead seed. Approximately one- 

 half of this was recleaned in bond — 

 the weed seeds and other refuse re- 

 moved being destroyed, while the seed 

 of good quality was allowed to go into 

 the seed trade. The other half of the 

 prohibited red clover shipments was 

 rejected because it contained so much 

 dead seed as to be of practically no 

 value for seeding purposes. Three 

 shipments, aggregating enough seed 

 to sow 16,000 acres at a normal rate 

 of seeding, contained no seed which 

 could be expected to grow in the field. 

 Because of the difficulties of trans- 

 Atlantic shipment, imports of almost 

 all kinds of seed have fallen off, Can- 

 ada bluegrass from Canada and win- 

 ter rape from Japan being the only 

 two items of imports which have ex- 

 ceeded those of the previous year. 



Pedigreed Peas. 



The agronomists of the Wisconsin 

 Experiment station have added pedi- 

 greed peas to service in the campaign 

 for higher production. The pedigreed 

 strains have been developed by E. J. 

 Delwiche of the agronomy department 

 at the Ashland Branch station. The 

 seed peas were first placed in the 

 hands of the growers two years ago, 

 after six years' breeding work had 

 been placed upon them. Enough is 

 now available to plant about 300 acres. 

 The pedigreed seed yields two to five 

 bushels an acre more than common 

 varieties and is far superior in quality. 



The decrease in acreage of field 



peas during the last few years, despite 

 the fact that Wisconsin has the repu- 

 tation of growing the best crop in the 

 United States, is due to the poor qual- 

 ity of seed which farmers have been 

 forced to use, in the opinion of R. A. 

 Moore of the College of Agriculture. 

 It was this condition which led to 

 breeding up the new strains. The 

 Scotch and green peas have been 

 much improved and pedigreed strains 

 of these and of crossbred varieties 

 have been developed. 



Members of the Wisconsin Experi- 

 ment Association have on hand about 

 650 bushels of the purebred seed. The 

 list of growers can be obtained from 

 R. A. Moore, College of Agriculture, 

 Madison. 



Regulations for the Importation of 

 Seeds. 



A new regulation made by an order 

 in council of October 26, 1918, pro- 

 hibits the importation into Canada of 

 seeds. unfit for seeding, on and after 

 November 1, 1918. These rules apply 

 only to seeds imported in lots of 10 

 pounds or more. The order affects 

 seeds of all kinds of clovers, grasses, 

 vetches, rape, other forage plants, 

 field root and garden vegetables. 



Samples of all lots of seeds sub- 

 mitted for customs clearance shall be 

 taken and forwarded to the Govern- 

 ment seed laboratory for examination. 

 Unfit seeds may be cleaned in bond. 

 If when resampled they are still con- 

 sidered unfit for seeding, the shipment 

 must be exported. Unfit seeds may 

 not be mixed with any other seeds. 



Disinfect Seed Potatoes Before Plant- 

 ing. 



The same disinfectant as applied to 

 wheat last fall to control smut, can 

 be used to control the common scab 

 on Irish potatoes. This disease, as 

 well as several other potato diseases, 

 are carried on the seed. All these 

 diseases can be largely controlled, 

 where potatoes are planted on new 

 land each year, by disinfecting the 

 seed before planting. There are sev- 

 eral ways of doing this, but the meth- 

 od recommended by the University of 

 Missouri College of Agriculture for the 

 average grower is to use formalin. 

 Use it at the same strength as for 

 wheat, 1 pint of the 40 per cent, for- 

 malin solution, costing about 50 cents, 

 to thirty gallons of water. Ordinarily 

 the seed are put into a sack and im- 

 mersed in this solution for 1% to 2 

 hours. It has been found that the 

 treatment can be reduced to fifteen 

 minutes, if the solution is heated to 

 122 degrees F. Besides saving time, 



the treatment is probably more effec- 

 tive when the solution is warmed. 

 The formalin solution can be used 

 over and over until it is gone. The 

 seed must be treated before cutting 

 and it is better if they can be spread 

 out to dry after being treated. 



The sweet potato is also attacked 

 by several diseases carried on the 

 seed tubers. For this reason they 

 should be disinfected before bedding, 

 where the diseases have caused loss 

 in previous years. The material used 

 is corrosive sublimate, 1 part to 1000 

 of water, or one ounce to eight gal- 

 lons of water if a crude form is used. 

 The powder should be dissolved in a 

 little warm water, then made up to 

 the right volume. The seed tubers 

 are soaked in this for ten minutes, 

 just before bedding them in the hot- 

 bed. Both Irish and sweet potatoes 

 are important crops in Missouri, and 

 many growers could improve their re- 

 sults by practicing seed treatment. 



Nitrate at Cost. 



County Agents throughout the 

 United States are to be made repre- 

 sentatives of the government in the 

 distribution and sale of nitrate of 

 soda for agricultural purposes. The 

 end of the war has made it possible 

 for the government to take up this 

 work on a large scale and 1919 pro- 

 duction in many states is expected to 

 be greatly increased by the use of 

 nitrates. 



Announcement of the new plan was 

 made in Connecticut in a telegram re- 

 ceived by the Extension Service of 

 the Connecticut Agricultural College, 

 at Storrs, from the United States 

 Bureau of Markets. The telegram 

 states: 



"The Secretary's office has an- 

 nounced that the Department, through 

 the Bureau of Markets, will offer 

 nitrate of soda for sale to farmers for 

 fertilizer at $S1 per ton f. o. b. loading 

 points or ports. Arrangements have 

 been made to secure a large quantity 

 of nitrate through the War Depart- 

 ment and unless demands are greater 

 than anticipated there will be enougn 

 to supply all reasonable require- 

 ments." 



Farmers interested in obtaining 

 nitrates should apply at once to their 

 local Farm Bureau. The county 

 agent will be supplied with informa- 

 tion as to obtaining this fertilizer. 

 Early applications are safest. 



War trade board has removed honey 

 and velvet beans from the export con- 

 servation list. 



