RESULTS OF SEED TESTS 

 Made July 1, 1952, to June 30, 1953 



This report contains the results of the seed inspection work for the 

 State Department of Agriculture of 715 official samples collected 

 throughout the state during the period from July 1, 1952, to June 30, 

 1953, by Mr. George H. Laramie, Seed Control Supervisor, and Mr. 

 Harold Ayer, Inspector. In addition to these official samples, 1362 

 private samples were analyzed, making a total of 2077 samples in- 

 spected. 



Wholesalers are listed in alphabetical order except when samples 

 are presumed to have been carried over, in which case they are listed 

 alphabetically by dealers. The New Hampshire seed law requires that 

 both agricultural and vegetable seeds must be labeled with the calendar 

 month and year when last tested for germination, and requires that this 

 germination test shall have been completed within nine months of being 

 offered for sale. In the following tables, if the date of test was within 

 the prescribed nine months, the sample is marked satisfactory, "S" in 

 this respect; if no date was given, the word "None" appears indicating 

 a violation; if the date was a violation of the law because the test was 

 not made within nine months, the date given on the tag or label appears 

 in that column. 



The first part of the report deals with 160 samples of agricultural 

 seed tested for purity, germination and noxious weed content. There is 

 a tolerance or allowable variation from the guarantee for both purity 

 and germination, in accordance with the Rules for Seed Testing adopted 

 by the Association of Official Seed Analysts, so that, for instance a 

 sample of timothy guaranteed 99.20 for purity and 85% for germination 

 could test as low as 98.25% for purity and 77% for germination and be 

 "satisfactory." If a sample when tested for purity falls within the allow- 

 able variation, it is marked "S" (satisfactory) ; if below the allowable 

 variation, and therefore a violation, the actual figure found for purity 

 is given. The same is true for germination in the case of agricultural 

 seeds. 



The second part of the report applies to 555 samples of vegetable 

 seeds which were tested for germination only. The New Hampshire 

 seed law requires that unless each packet or other container is plainly 

 marked "Below Standard" together with the percentage of germination, 

 vegetable seeds must test up to the prescribed standard for that kind of 

 seed, and that there is no tolerance from the adopted standards. In the 

 column headed "Found" if the same was up to standard, an "S" (satis- 

 factory) appears. The exception to this is in the case of a given sample 

 being marked with a gurantee, which is not required if vegetable seed 

 is up to standard ; then, if the seed is found to be below the regular 

 tolerance from that guaranteed figure, the figure found upon test fol- 

 lowed by "f " is listed as "mislabeled" even though it might in some cases 

 be up to standard. 



The 1953 Legislature changed paragraph V, Sec. 3, of the New 

 Hampshire Seed Law relative to secondary noxious weeds. The new 

 wording is given on page 4 of the law, which follows : 



