1912. 



rUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 



103 



More seed se})aratiuii is appai'ciitly being done at this station 

 than at any other, and tliis work is eonstantly increasing. The 

 advantages to be derived from seed separation are not fully 

 appreciated as yet. Onion and tobacco growers, we believe, are 

 realizing these advantages more fully year by year, and this is 

 true of some lettuce and celery growers, but much more use 

 could be made of the practice by market gardeners. Seed sej)- 

 aration results in better seed, more perfect germination and 

 much more uniform and larger j)lants, which in seedbeds saves 

 s])ace and a great deal of labor in selecting uniform seedlings. 



The selection from strains is also being made much of in the 

 growing of corn and other crops, but market gardeners and 

 farmers are by no means making use of all the opportunities in 

 any of these directions. 



The percentage of onion seed discarded runs higher than 

 usual, a fact due, apparently, to the relatively larger number of 

 small seeds present than usual. 



A summary of the seed Avork carried on at the station for a 

 period of twelve years is shown in Table III. Previous to 1899 

 little seed testing and separation were done here, and no syste- 

 matic records were kept of the work. Table III. gives a reca- 

 pitulation of the work done in seed germination, purity testing 

 and seed separation since 1899. 



