Annual Report for 1912 of the Botanist. 



285 



30 per cent. 



30 — 35 per cent. 



y 1.5 — 20 per cent. 



Perennial rye-grass 



Italian rye-f^rass . 



Black medick or trefoil 



Red clover 



Alsike . 



Cocksfoot 



Foxtail ..." 



Meadow fescue 



Smooth stalked meadow grass 



Wood meadow grass 



Hard fescue . 



Timothy grass 



Anthox(Hithum /lufllii 



Yorkshire fog. 



Soft brome 



Alra fleivuoxa 



Festuca mywun . . . . . )■ 20 per cent. 



Dock . ' . 



Buttercup 



Geranium 



Plantain 



The first twelve species in the list may all be used for the 

 purpose. Further they can all be purchased in a reasonably 

 pure condition. The remaining nine species represent common 

 impurities and adulterants, and they constitute some 20 per 

 cent, of the whole bulk. Anthoxanthum iruelii is a worthless 

 annual grass which is frankly described in a continental list as 

 being "useful for mixing with A^ithoxanthum odo^-atmn'" 

 (sweet vernal grass). Aira flexuosa also was formerly much 

 used for adulterating the seeds of the expensive yellow oat grass. 



Another, possibly accidental, case of adulteration is of some 

 interest. In this case som.e 12 per cent, of red clover had 

 found its way into a sample of foxtail grass. The seed of this 

 grass is very light and bulky, and this quantity of red clover 

 seed is hardly noticeable at fii'st sight ; and, even if the presence 

 of a few seeds is detected, the fact that they are not noxious 

 weed seeds would lead the observer to pay little or no attention 

 to them. It is only when they are picked out and their weight 

 compared with that of the rest of the sample that one realizes 

 that two ounces otit of every pound of Foxtail consist of red 

 clover seeds. 



Fortunately, the examples quoted are far from typical of the 

 purity of the l)ulk of the seeds purchased by members, though 

 investigations recently made in the Botanical department show 

 that they are not altogether misrepresentative of much of the 

 seed which small farmers are driven to purchase. 



The average percentage of germination of the seeds most fre- 

 quently received for testing during the season was as follows : — 



Red clover 91, White clover 89, Alsike 9i)-^), Lucerne 92, 

 Sainfoin 84, Perennial rye-grass 92, Italian rye-grass 91, 

 Cocksfoot 85. 



