154 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE 



planted. " More than one-half of the total was waste, 

 or worse, making the actual cost of the good seed more 

 than double the amount supposedly paid for it."* The 

 market price of the seed was $3.50 per bushel, but as 

 more than half, 53.8 per cent, of this amount was 

 waste, the good seed actually cost $7.5G per bushel. 

 Many examples of this kind might be given to show 

 the necessity for seed testing. Of course all the *seed 



sold on the market are not 

 so bad as the sample used 

 in this test. Some lots of 

 seed are very good, and con- 

 tain almost no impurities. 

 On the other hand, there 

 are other lots of seed much 

 worse than the one cited. 

 For example, the U. S. De- 

 partment of Agriculture 

 found one sample of clover 

 seed that contained only .8 

 per cent of pure, germinable 

 seed. The market price of 

 this seed was $5.75 per bushel, but the actual price for 

 the good seed was at the rate of $703.80 per bushel. 



146. Deterioration of Seed. — Good seed as a rule 

 produce good crops, which, in turn, produce good seed. 

 But this is true only when the crop is grown under 

 favorable conditions. Poorly cultivated crops pro- 

 duce a poorer quality of seed than those from which 



Fig, 



—Red clover (Trifolium 

 nratente): 1, one pound of seed as 

 bought; 2. pure seed; 3, broken 

 seed and dirt; 4, spurious seed; 

 5, total waste; G, pure and germi- 

 nable seed (From Farmers' Bul- 

 letin, No. Ill, U. S. Dept. Agr.) 



•Farmers' Bulletin No. Ill, U. S. Dept. Agr., 1900. 



