1891.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 4. 



283 



In the Botanical Department. 



1. A report on the purity, amount and nature of foreign 

 materials, the perfectness and germinating power of a sample 

 of seed: Is. ($0.25). 



2. Determination of the species of any weed or other 

 plant or of any epiphyte (air plant) or vegetable parasite, 

 with a report on its habits, and the means of extermination 

 or prevention : Is. ($0.25). 



3. Report on any disease affecting farm crops: Is. 



($0 25 ) . 



4. Determination of the species of a collection of natural 

 grasses found in any district, with a report on their habits 

 and pasture value : 5s. ($1.25). 



N. B. The consulting botanist's reports on seeds are 

 furnished to enable members, purchasers of seeds and corn 

 for agricultural or horticultural purposes, to test the value 

 of what they buy, and are not to be used or made available 

 for advertising or trade purposes. 



The Royal" Society publishes these directions for the 

 instruction of those purchasing seeds : that the purchaser 

 should obtain from the vendor, by invoice (bill) or other- 

 wise, a proper designation of the seed he buys, with a 

 guarantee that it contains not more than a specified amount 

 of other seeds, and is free from ergot (seed diseased by 

 influence of parasitic fungus), or, in the case of clovers, 

 from dodder (a parasitical plant), and of the percentage of 

 seeds that will germinate. The germination of cereals, green 

 crops, clovers and timothy grass, should be not less than 

 ninety per cent ; of foxtail, not less than sixty per cent ; of 

 other grasses, not less than seventy per cent. The Royal 

 Society publicly announces that the purchase of mixtures of 

 grass seed* should be avoided, and that the different seeds 

 to be sown should be purchased separately. The advisability 

 of this method is, I believe, well known to agriculturists in 



this country. 



The Royal Society's library is well stocked with stand- 

 ard books on agricultural subjects, and the reading room 

 contains the principal agricultural newspapers and other 

 periodicals. 



