4 CONTROL SERIES No. 67 



group, as with the previous two, violations were largely the product of care- 

 lessness in not retaining the wholesaler's tag or imperfectly copying it. 



Although the law does not require a stated germination for each of the 

 kinds of seeds in a mixture of more than two ingredients, the laboratory 

 tested each mixture for germination of each agricultural seed contained. 

 The tables do not show this record. As a whole the performance was satis- 

 factory. Low germination was mostly confined to seed like Chewings New 

 Zealand Fescue which loses a great part of its viability in a few months' time. 

 Low germination of all the ingredients in a given sample occurred infrequently, 

 indicating that the mixture was not made during the current year 



Vegetable Seed 



All of the 258 samples of seed in this group were found to be sold in com- 

 pliance with the law which requires that the kind and variety of the seed be 

 stated with the name and address of the vendor. Seeds from each sample 

 were germinated and the records included here indicate that 122 samples 

 showed germination below the standards required by law in several of the 

 states. A table averaging the standards of several states is shown on page 4, 

 Control Series Bulletin No. 56, 1930. If the quality of vegetable seed sold in 

 Massachusetts can be measured by the germination records, there is clearly a 

 need of revision in the Vegetable Seed Law. 



Explanation of Tables 



In these tables the seeds are listed in alphabetical order by groups, each 

 group containing only those seeds, the sale of which is regulated by a definite 

 section of the Massachusetts Seed Law. Section 261-A of the Acts and 

 Resolves of 1927, Chapter 274, defines the group from Alfalfa to Vetch, 

 inclusive; Section 261-B, Mixtures; Section 261-C, Special Mixtures; and 

 Section 261-D, Vegetables. 



The number preceding each analysis is for identification and reference. 

 The line to the right of the letter "L" gives information copied from the 

 label; that to the right of "F," what was found in the laboratory analysis. 

 Attention is called to certain irregularities by the following: 

 The asterisk (*) shows violation in labeling. 



Boldface type indicates low purity, low germination, excessive weed 

 seed, or excessive inert material, depending upon the column in which 

 it is found. 



All lots of seed included in this report were tested according to the Rules 

 for Seed Testing adopted by the Association of Official Seed Analysts. 



"Tolerance" is applied to both purity and germination, except in those 

 tables which list seeds falling under sections of the law not requiring purity 

 or germination on the label. For the application of "Purity Tolerance," the 

 sample is considered as made up of two component parts: (1) the component 

 being considered, and (2) the balance of the sample. The tolerance in per- 

 centage allowed for each component shall be two-tenths of one per cent (0.2'.'^) 

 plus twenty per cent (20%) of the lesser of the two parts. "Germination 

 Tolerance" has been applied between a given germination and the result of 

 the germination test as follows: 



Given Germination (%) Allowable Varialio7i (';[) 



90 or over 6 



80 or over, but less than 90 7 



70 or over, but less than 80 8 



60 or over, but less than 70 9 



Less than 60 10 



