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IRISH GARDENING 



Seed Testing. 



Ireland is not infrequently regarded as being 

 a backward country, but in many respects this 

 idea is an erroneous one. 



In all that pertains to that fundamental art- 

 science, Agriculture, Ireland indeed is now well 

 to the forefront, and iu the important matter 

 of the provision of facilities whereby the quality 

 of agricultural seeds can accurately be gauged, 

 and at a practically nominal cost to the farmer, 

 she is, and has for years been, far ahead of her 

 neighbour Great Britain. 



In the year 1900 a strong departmental com- 

 mittee was appointed, by the English Board of 

 Agriculture to enquire into the trade in agricul- 

 tural seeds in the British Isles, and in the 

 following year a report was issued in which, 

 amongst other things, the establishment of a 

 seed testing station was recommended. Up to 

 the present, however, no action appears to have 

 been taken to give effect to this recommendation 

 in Great Britain although there are rumours 

 chat, following the Irish example, Scotland and 

 also England may shortly have such stations. 



Scarcely six months was allowed to elapse, 

 however, after the establishment of the Irish 

 Department of Agriculture in 1900 before that 

 body took steps to make arrangements for 

 having seeds tested, and the present Irish Seed 

 'resting Station, dining the twelve or thirteen 

 years of its existence, lias tested many thousands 

 of samples of seeds, and has been of much service 

 to the country in assisting in the gradual, and 

 perhaps somewhat slow, but none the less sub- 

 stantial, improvement which has been and is 

 taking place in the quality of seeds used by 

 farmers in Ireland. 



In 1909 the Weeds and Agricultural Seeds 

 ( Ireland) Act was passed, and the carrying out 

 Of the provisions of this Ad entailed a very 



considerable addition to the activities of the 

 Seed Testing Station. Formerly situated in the 

 Botanical Department of the National Museum. 

 then migrating to the old Royal College of 

 Science, the Station, which has recently under 

 gone considerable reorganisation and extension, 

 in order to enable it to cope more effectually 

 with the increased demands made on its services, 

 is now housed in much more suitable quarters in 

 the splendid buildings of the new Royal College 

 of Science in Upper Mferrion Street, Dublin. 



We give an illustration of the principal 

 laboratory in which the main work of seed 

 testing is carried on, a line, well-lighted room 

 some twenty-five by fifty feet, fitted with all 

 modern conveniences for scientific work. 



At a seed testing station as is well known, 

 the seeds are subjected to tests for — (a) purity, 

 and (h) germination. The purity tesl is deter 

 mined by weight, all the seeds not of the kind 



named in the designation of the sample, such as 

 weed seeds, &c, being removed from a weighed 

 portion of it. together with other impurities, 

 such as sand. dirt, or debris of any kind. By 

 weighing these impurities and making a simple 

 calculation the percentage of purity can easily 

 be ascertained. The percentage of germination 

 is determined by placing a given number of the 

 pure seeds (at the Irish station this number is 

 never less than five hundred, and in certain cases 

 is nine hundred) under optimum conditions for 

 growth, and counting hew many of them sprout 

 or germinate. 



The so-called " true value " or "' real worth " 

 of a sample is the number obtained by multiply- 

 ing together the percentages of purity and 

 germination and dividing them by one hundred. 



These tests are carried out at the Irish station 

 for the purely nominal fee of threepence per 

 sample for farmers, while for seed merchants 

 the fee is two shillings per sample. Full details 

 anent seed testing and the regulations governing 

 the utilisation of this station will he found in 

 Leaflet 59 of the series published by the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, which can be obtained free 

 on application to the Secretary. 



Seed testing stations have been established on 

 the Continent of Europe for many decades, and 

 seme of them — notably the Swiss one in 

 Zurich — make a point of testing samples for 

 clients of all nationalities. 



Although in the main the principles adopted 

 at the best of these Continental stations are the 

 same as those in vogue at the Irish station, yet 

 there are two important respects in which those 

 of the latter station do not coincide with Con- 

 tinental practice. 



The first of these is in connection with the 

 tests made of the larger and commoner grass 

 •eeds. At most Continental stations in testing 

 such seeds for purity not only are the real 

 impurities, such as weed seeds, dirt, &c, re 

 moved and weighed as such, but so are also 

 all the grass seeds which do not. or appeal- not 

 to. contain a, kernel or caryopsis. Since the 

 germination test is carried out on the pure seed 

 after the impurities have been removed, it 

 follows that by the Continental method the 

 germination test is made on selected seeds, and 



that therefore (particularly in relatively inferior 



.-amides) the percentage of germination will be 

 higher than if the sample were tested by the 

 Irish method. By the Irish method the ger- 

 mination test is carried out on the grass seed 

 just as it is sold to the farmer after only the 

 real impurities have been removed, and the result 

 gives a fairer indication of the quality of the 

 seed in the matter of germination, of course 

 as regards purity the Continental method gives 

 lower percentages than the Irish does. 



The second point is in the matter of controls. 



