RURAL LEGISLATION 



understood demand for some method of con- 

 trol has arisen. In at least one state there is 

 a seed-control law modeled quite closely 

 after the fertilizer-control law. However, 

 the usual method of protection consists in 

 purchasing by sample or the insistence of a 

 guarantee, with a subsequent "analysis" of 

 a sample of the purchased seed. 



The germinating power and purity of 

 seed can be determined cheaply by an ex- 

 pert within from five to twenty days, de- 

 pending upon the species. The federal gov- 

 ernment has a division of seed control in its 

 Department of Agriculture at Washington, 

 D. C. Any person may send a sample of seed 

 to this division and have its purity and 

 germinating power determined, and in some 

 of the states the experiment station will 

 perform similar services without charge. 

 Clover, alfalfa, grass and other small seeds 

 should always be purchased subject to such 

 inspection, unless the purchaser is prepared 

 to make his own inspection, which a very 

 little training makes possible. 

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