io8 



THE FORAGE AND FIBER CROPS IN AMERICA 



7 



6. Flowering glume: Blunt; pointed: straight; curved: awned; awnless. 



7. Flowering glume: Yellow; brown; reddish; silvery: chartaceous; hyaline. 



8. Flowering glume: Keel: prominent; medium; absent: smooth; hairy. 

 Adherence: strong; medium; weak. 



9. Rachilla: Long; short; variable: slender; broad: smooth; hairy: standing 

 away from the paleae; compressed against paleae; absent, 



10. Most important character for identification 



115. SEED TEST. Give each student samples of commercial seed repre- 

 senting considerable differences in the percentage of germination. The 

 following grasses are suggested: redtop, Kentucky blue grass and timothy, 

 each one ounce; red clover, alfalfa and meadow fescue, two ounces; hairy 



vetch and cowpeas, each four ounces. 

 For details, see Rules and Apparatus for 

 Seed Testing, adopted by the standing 

 committee on methods of seed testing oi 

 the Association of American Agricultural 

 Colleges and Experiment Stations. U. S. 

 Dept. of Agr., Off. Expt. Sta. Circ. 34 

 (Revised). The following special ap- 

 paratus in addition to lenses, microscopes, 

 and dissecting instruments is recom- 

 mended: 



1. A seed mixer and sampler. 



2. A nest of small copper sieves. 



3. A vertical air-blast seed separator. 



4. An authentic collection of the seeds 

 of the principal weeds and cultivated 

 plants such as is prepared for schools by 

 the Seed Laboratory of the U. S. Dept. 

 of Agr. 



5. Standard or Semoer's germinating chambers equipped with low tem- 

 perature thermostats and thermometers. 



6. Blue blotting paper and canton flannel. 



7. Sterilized sifted sand and shallow greenhouse flats. 



Purity Test 



Sampling: Take from each sample of redtop and Kentucky blue grass, one 

 gram; of timothy, two grams; of meadow fescue, three grams; and of red 

 clover and alfalfa, five grams in such manner as to make them thoroughly 

 representative of the sample submitted. (16) 



Separation: Divide sample just taken into three parts and weigh each part 

 as follows: (1) inert matter; (2) all foreign seed except adulterants; (3) pure 

 seed and adulterants. First use vertical air-blast separator to separate chaff 



Vertical air blast separator 



