PRINCIPLES OF SEED TESTING 355 



A Departmental Committee was appointed by the 

 Board of Agriculture in 1900 to inquire into the con- 

 ditions under which agricultural seeds were then sold, 

 and to report whether any further measures could with 

 advantage be taken to secure the maintenance of ade- 

 quate standards of purity and germinating capacity. 

 The Committee recommended the establishment of one 

 Central Seed-testing Station under Government auspices, 

 with a practice and procedure to be laid down and 

 revised from time to time by a small committee of 

 experts. It was believed that the fees should be 

 moderate and so fixed as to encourage seed-merchants 

 to sell seeds subject to re-testing by the purchaser if 

 desired. The recommendation was dissented from by 

 two members of the Committee (Sir W. T. Thisleton 

 Dyer, then Director of Kew Gardens, and Mr. L. G. 

 Sutton), who considered that there was no strong case 

 in favour of the establishment of such a station, while 

 the results obtained from examination of samples might 

 possibly be found to differ widely from the bulk, as to 

 which no guarantee could be given. Both gentlemen 

 urged strongly that the only satisfactory method of 

 testing seeds lies in growing crops therefrom. No effect 

 has been given to the recommendations of the Com- 

 mittee, and at the present time Great Britain does not 

 possess a Government station, but seed examination is 

 undertaken by the larger agricultural societies, farmers' 

 clubs, agricultural colleges, and agricultural journals. 



A Government Station had been established in Ire- 

 land prior to the appointment of the English Committee, 

 and some thousands of samples have since been tested. 

 (See also p. 411.) 



In this connection it may be remarked that, accord- 

 ing to a Board of Agriculture report, 1 the Board have 



1 Annual Report, Intelligence Division, 1905, p. 36. 



