SEED INSPECTION 



31 



FIELD TESTS OF VEGETABLE SEEDS 

 TYPE AND VARIETY STUDIES— SECTION 261 H 



Conducted by ihe Seed Laboratory* 



Nineteen-hundred fifty seven marks the 22nd year field trials have been conducted 

 by the Seed Laboratory to determine the trueness-to-type of certain kinds of vege- 

 table seed offered for sale in the State. Tests -were run on Beans, Carrots, and 

 Radishes from a collection made by the State Seed Inspectors. These samples were 

 taken from 64 retail establishments and represent the offerings of 28 wholesale 

 seedsmen in the State. 



Fifty-one lots of green and wax beans, seventy-seven lots of carrots, and forty-six 

 lots of radish were field tested from samples taken throughout the Commonwealth 

 by the State Seed Inspectors. All were given laboratory germination tests prior 

 to the field testing. 



The beans were planted May 22nd. Each lot was a twenty-five foot row, with 

 the rows three feet apart. All lots were duplicated at random in the field, and for 

 each variety planted in the trials an authentic check sample was also duplicated at 

 random in the field. Only those varieties of beans were planted where the seed 

 characteristics were difficult to differentiate from observations of the seed alone. 



No lots of beans were found to disagree with the variety name as stated on the 

 label or packet; however, the desirability of the different lots of the same variety 

 was quite evident; note the following table. It is not, however, the function or 

 policy of the Seed Laboratory to place ratings on the field tests. 



In an attempt to further emphasize the statement that different lots of the same 

 variety are not all of the same value to a grower, a study was made on the yields of 

 certain bean varieties in our field trials. This study was set up in the following 

 manner: The first twenty-five plants in every row were counted out and marked. 

 Prior to this each row had been thinned so that the first twenty-five plants made up 

 approximately the same distance in the row. Every variety had its guard rows and 

 its own authentic sample, plus a duplicated set of plantings. Five harvestings were 

 made on each variety of bean and its duplicate when it was considered the beans 

 were marketable. All lots of the same variety were picked on the same day. Every- 

 thing was done to make it equal for all lots. Below is a table listing the results found 

 on yield studies of the four varieties selected for study. 



*\Valdo C. Lincoln, Research Instructor 

 Kenneth Pelton, Laboratory Assistant 



