SEED TE8T1NG 153 



able to suppose that something is wron«r, and further 

 test should be made. Whatever 1 1 » « - freight <»f the 

 it is well to take a small amount, say an ounce, exam- 

 ine it carefully and pick out all the trash) unsound 

 seed, and foreign seed. Foreign seed mean any seed 

 other than the kind called for by the sample. Bj 

 weighing the impurities the per cent of pure seed may 

 be determined. 



144. Germinating Tests for Seed. — The most im- 

 portant test for seed is determining their power to ger- 

 minate, that is, their power to grow when planted. The 

 seed may be apparently sound and contain almost no 

 trash or impure seed, and yet fail to grow when planted 

 Old seed often fail to grow. A simple method of germi- 

 nating seed was described in the experiment on page 

 86j and H \» well to test all seed in this way before 

 planting. Take say 50, 100, or 200 seed, depending on 

 their size, and germinate them as described in th 

 periment. 1»\ being careful to have all the conditions 



of temper a tnre and moisture just right, and by noting 

 the number sprouting, the per cent ol sound seed may 



be determined. 



145. Necessity for Testing Seed. — It is unfortu- 

 nately true that many kinds of seed are adulterated, 

 some by accident, others by design. Small seed, such 

 as grass or closer seed, are easily sdnlterated, and the 

 imparities are difficult to detect. The 1'. s. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture at Wellington has made trials 

 of many kinds of seed, and Fig. M shows the I 



of a test of red clover seed. Only 46.2 per cent of 

 the seed bought could be relied on to grow when 



