658 Journal of Agriculture. [lo Nov., 1908, 



and, after all, if you can establish a really good stand, the extra outlay 

 will be returned a hundred-fold. In estimatmg the quantity to be sown, 

 the real value of the seed must be computed — by this I mean the 

 actual proportion of true seeds capable of germination. This can be 

 readily ascertained by multiplying the purity per cent, by the per cent, 

 of germination, and dividing the product by 100. We can then tell how 

 many pounds we require to sow, but a good margin for loss must be 

 allowed, especially in regard to small seeds, such as Timothy. Up to- 

 50 per cent, is added in the case of small seeds to be sown on a rough bed 

 or one which is not clean. In this connexion I desire to bring under 

 notice some of the results obtained from tests made to ascertain the 

 germinating capacity of grass and clover seeds on the Melbourne market 

 this season. A hundred seeds of each species were used, and the experi- 

 ments were made in triplicate. One sample of Hungarian forage yielded 

 as low as i per cent, of germinating seeds, and a large number of others- 

 did not exceed 50 per cent. These I would specially mention : — iNIeadow 

 fescue, 12 per cent. ; strawberry clover, 16 per cent. ; melilotus, 12 per- 

 cent. ; crested dog's tail, 43 per cent. ; lucerne, 52 per cent. ; white clover, 

 64 per cent. ; and perennial rye grass, 66 per cent. The fact that these 

 figures do not represent the real values, but only the percentage of ger- 

 minating seeds, must not be lost sight of, as the actual value of the com- 

 mercial article may be considerably less than these figures indicate. To 

 put the matter in a concrete form — if a sample of grass seed is found to 

 contain 80 per cent, of pure seed which gives an 80 per cent, germination 

 test, then the real value is reduced to 64 per cent., or in other words, only 

 64 lbs. out of every 100 sown is capable of contributing towards the 

 formation of pasture. In carrying out the tests above referred to, it 

 was found that some samples contained an inordinately high proportion 

 of sluggish seeds, in many cases as much as 20 per cent, took an undue 

 length of time to germinate. In the face of these facts it seems to me 

 desirable that some effort should be made to supervise the importation of 

 seeds with the view of preventing the introduction of weeds and plant 

 diseases, and at the same time of raising the quality of our seeds by estab- 

 lishing standards of real value. A farmer may be quite capable of judging 

 the general weight and quality of farm seeds, but he can never be expected 

 to detect all forms of adulteration, or to estimate the percentage of seeds 

 that will germinate. 



Sowing the Seed. 

 We have next to consider a number of important points in regard to 

 the operation of grass seeding. These may be grouped under three 

 heads : — 



(i) The time of the year to sow. 



(2) The advisability of sowing a nurse crop. 



(3) The method of sowing and covering the seed. 



Season to Sow. — Grass seeds are sown in the spring and autumn, but so' 

 far as Victoria is concerned it is only in the southern regions that a choice 

 exists, as the spring months are not sufficiently moist in the north to promote 

 a rapid germination and to enable the young plants to get '' their toes dug 

 deep" into the land before the summer sets in. Even in the western and 

 other favoured districts, spring sowing must be early enough to let the 

 young plants develop vigorously before the weeds begin to flourish. Other- 

 wise they will be choked right out, or at best will develop into such slender 



