1642 



SEEDAGE 



SEEDAGE 



and if those in one or more blocks show either general 

 inferiority or a large portion of inferior plants, the en- 

 tire block is condemned and rooted out, even if in doing 

 so some very tine individual plants are destroyed. The 

 remaining blocks are then carefully examined and that one 

 selected which shows the closest adherence to the desired 

 type, and from it a few plants are selected and their 



^z:^ 



2293. A gardener's flat, or shallow box, in which seeds are 



sown and small plants handled. 



A good size for a flat is 16 x 20 inches, and 3 inches deep. 



seed saved separately for planting in blocks the suc- 

 ceeding year. Then the remaining plants of this and 

 the other blocks which escaped the first weeding out are 

 very carefully examined and all inferior ones removed, 

 and the seeds from the plants which still remain are 

 saved together. These are usually sufficient in quantity 

 to plant a field, the product of which is used by the 

 seedsman for his general stock seed. From the stock 

 seed he grows the seed which he offers his customers. 

 The same process is repeated every year, or at least every 

 few years, and results in marked improvement, if not 

 in type, at least in the fixing and making permanent the 

 good qualities of the variety. Having thtis obtained 

 stock seed which is of superior quality and sure to 

 reproduce itself, the seedsman contracts with some 

 farmer, located in a section where soil and climate are 

 favorable to the best development of the sort, to plant 

 a large field and save the entire seed product. This the 

 farmer does with little regard to selection, taking pains 

 only to guard against contamination from adjoining 

 fields, and to remove any chance sports or mixtures 

 that may appear. The seed thus produced is what the 

 seedsman furnishes his customers. This plan enables 

 the professional seedsman not only to produce cheaper 

 seeds, but seeds of better quality than the ordinary 

 planter can, or at least is likely to produce in his own 

 garden, and in consequence gardeners have come to get 

 more and more of their seed from the seedsman, whose 

 business has correspondingly increased. 



In 1900 a single seed firm contracted for the growing 

 of more than 200 acres of one variety of watermelon 

 for seed, and received on its contracts over 30,000 

 pounds. More than half of this came from a single field 

 of over 50 acres, and in this entire field there were not 

 50 fruits which were not good types of the variety. 

 One could go to any part of it and gathering together 

 the nearest 100 fruits would find that at least 50 of them 

 were so nearly alike as not to be distinguished from one 

 another; while of the remaining 50 at least 40 could be 

 distinguished only by some mark that had resulted 

 from accidental causes. The same firm had 20- and 40- 

 acre fields of beans, peas, corn and other vegetables in 

 which every plant was, as it were, the grandchild of 

 some especially fine plant produced two years before, 

 and which was itself the product of years of previous 

 selection. Such seed is much more reliable than that 

 produced in a small garden, where other plants of the 

 same species are growing in near-by gardens and fields. 



W. W. Tracy. 



Seed Testing. — Scientific seed testing was inaugurated 

 in 1801) by Dr. F. Nobbe, director of the Experiment 

 Station at Tharand, Saxony, who V/..3 impressed by the 

 large amount of impurities and the low germinating 



2294. Clover seed "trier. 



power of many commercial seeds, for which the German 

 farmer was paying fancy prices. The publication of the 

 results obtained by him excited much comment and laid 

 the foundation for the present extensive system ( t' 

 European seed control. At the present time there aie 

 more than one hundred so-called seed control stations 

 in Europe alone. Some of these are independent insti- 

 tutions, while others are conducted as branches of agri- 

 cultural experiment stations. 



The quality of seeds cannot be told by a mere casual 

 inspection but is ascertained only by a careful test. 

 This should include three steps: (1) an examination 

 for purity (freedom from foreign matter), (2) vitality, 

 and (3) genuineness, or trueness to name. The latter is 

 known to seedsmen and growers as purity of stock. 

 Unless seeds possess a high requirement in all of these 

 respects their use will entail great loss to the planter. 



Purity 2'est. — The percentage of purity is determined 

 by weight, from a fair average sample of seed selected 

 from different parts of the bulk lot. Wheat and other 

 grains are taken with a sampler, consisting of two hol- 

 low cylinders of metal, one inside the other, and about 

 36 in. long by 1% in. in diameter. They are pointed at 

 the bottom and contain a series of openings along on© 

 side, which may be turned at will to open or close the 

 holes. The sampler, with the holes open, is thrust into 

 the grain in the car or open bag, for its entire length. 

 When filled with seeds the inner cylinder is turned, so 

 as to close the holes, and the sampler removed. For 

 clover and other small seeds one uses a "trier," consist- 

 ing of a single short cylinder open at one end and taper- 

 ing down to a sharp point, just above which on one side 

 is a long, elliptical open- 

 ing (Fig. 2294) . The trier 

 is thrust through the side 

 of a bag of seed at dif- 

 erent points until the 

 aperture is covered, the 

 seed being allowed to run out at the other end into a 

 dish. 



The seed thus taken is thoroughly mixed and a given 

 quantity weighed out for testing. The amounts used in 

 the pnrity test vary with the size of the seed, ranging 

 from 15 grains of June grass, red top, and tobacco to 

 1.8 ounces of peas and cereals. If the sample is suspected 

 to contain any seeds of such serious pests as dodder, 

 Canada thistle, wild mustard, ergot, etc., at least 1.8 

 ounces are examined for such impurities. 



After being weighed the seeds are spread out thinly 

 on a sheet of heavy white paper or pane of glass and by 

 means of a pair of forceps the impurities are removed. 

 This includes inert matter, such as dirt, chaff, broken 

 seeds and foreign seeds. Under the latter designation 

 are embraced seeds of both weeds and useful plants, 

 that is, any seeds of a different name from that under 

 which the sample was sold. The impurities are weighed 

 upon a good chemical balance and the percentage of 

 impurity thus determined. 



The purity which a given kind of first-class com- 

 mercial seed should show depends largely upon the 

 habit of growth of the species and the difficulty of ob- 

 taining pure seed of that species. Most vegetables and 

 cereals are grown devoid of weeds, and their seeds 

 are easily cleaned, hence they should be practically 

 pure. Grasses and clovers, on the other hand, are more 

 or less liable to be mixed with other species in the field. 

 Furthermore, the cleaning of some varieties requires 

 great care, often entailing a considerable loss of good 

 seed, hence the proportion of pure seed to be expected 

 in such samples is less than in the former case. 



An extensive experience in testing commercial seeds, 

 together with a comparison of the results of other tests 

 made in this country and Europe, has enabled the 

 United States Department of Agriculture to fix a table 

 of standards of purity for most seeds sold by dealers. 

 These standards, however, are subject to future re- 

 vision if found necessary. 



By means of a hand lens and by reference to a stand- 

 ard collection of economic seeds, the foreign seeds in 

 the sanqdo are next determined. If dodder, (^anada 

 thistle, ergot, wild mustard, bulbs of wild onion, chess, 

 Russian lliistle, cockle, quack grass, penny cress, wild 

 oats, or wild fiax are present the seed should be re- 



