Pe^tee 



aboratory 



Check sample of the beet 

 variety Detroit Dark Red. 



labeled and he gets a crop of early 

 sweet. That same gardener with a 

 field of Golden Acre cabbage would 

 not want 30 or 40 percent Danish 

 Ball Head. The home gardener also 

 likes to be assured of the truth of 

 the printed matter on a packet of 

 seeds. 



Hundreds of Seeds Tested 



For the past five years field trials 

 have been made on about 600 

 samples of seed each year. Half 

 the acreage used for the trials is also 

 devoted to testing annual flower 

 seeds. Samples are submitted by 

 the State Seed Inspector who thor- 

 oughly covers all retail stores in the 

 State. Results of the tests are pub- 

 lished in the annual control bul- 

 letins. 



Varieties Often Mixed 



The genus and species of flowers 

 are not usually mixed, but the var- 

 ieties often are. For example, if you 

 planted a Fantasy Zinnia, you may 



Sample labeled Detroit Dark 

 Red found to have no 

 shape or color uniformity. 

 Only 18% showed the 

 typical characteristics of a 

 Detroit Dark Red beet. 



get a California Giant or a Lilliput 

 type. A color mixture should con- 

 tain more than two colors; stated 

 doubles should not harbor any 

 singles; and dwarf plants should not 

 be of the giant type. 



According to the 1953 trials, 20 

 percent of the flower seed packets 

 were not satisfactory for one or more 

 of the above reasons. 



Constant Vigilance Necessary 



The negative angle of the Seed 

 Laboratory field work is also impor- 

 tant. As long as the work is being 

 carried out, seedsmen will try to be 

 careful about proper labeling. If 

 the work were stopped, there might 

 be a few seedsmen who would be- 

 come careless. 



Although the work of the Seed 

 Laboratory is not of a startling 

 nature, that is, it is not concerned 

 with developing new varieties or 

 techniques, it nevertheless is a 

 necessar) phase of a good agricul- 

 tural program in our State. 



Left: An irregularly shaped unsatisfactory lot of Butternut squash. 

 Right: Sample lot of good squash. Note uniform shape and size. 



