142 



EXFEllLMEM STATION. 



[Jan. 



The work in seed separation for lUlO was carried on as usnal, 

 and although a smaller number of samples was separated than 

 in lUOD, the total amount of seed separated, 1,552 pounds, was 

 greater. Of this^ 1,18.'3 pounds were onion seed. The princi})al 

 varieties of seed separated were onion, tobacco and lettuce. The 

 separation of onion seed also tends to show that the seed was 

 not as good this year as it was in 1909, as the average percent- 

 age of good seed was only 88.7 per cent., while the amount of 

 discarded seed w^as slightly larger than in 1909. As in years 

 past, several growers have requested that this station tost the 

 germination of seed both before and after separation, and the 

 results this year resemble those of previous seasons so closely 

 that they will not be inserted in this report. In the case of 

 the separation of lettuce seed, the grower sending the seed often 

 rcHpiests that a certain amount, sometimes in excess of the actual 

 need, be taken out. This, however, is believed to be a good 

 practice in the case of lettuce or tobacco seed, as it is certain that 

 better germination results from removing more than is abso- 

 lutely necessary. Table 2 shows the records of seed separation 

 for 1910. 



Table 2. — Records of Seed Separation, 1910. 



ISTo eifort has been made on the part of the station as yet to 

 establish and maintain a seed-control laboratory for the purpose 

 of testing the purity of seed, and therefore in the past year the 

 number of samples of seed sent in for examination as to their 

 ])urity has been small. In all, some 80 samples have been ex- 

 amined ; mostly clovers and grasses, but as this work takes con- 

 siflerable time, no grass mixtures have been examined for 

 purity. 



