BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. 161 



crops, the production of silage crops, the utilization of by-products, 

 and in supplementing pasture crops with grain for the production 

 of meat and milk. Some attention has also been given to the use of 

 sheep on irrigated farms, and some of the possibilities of using these 

 animals for consuming waste products and cleaning up fields and 

 ditch banks have been demonstrated. 



INVESTIGATIONS OF SEED SUPPLIES. 



ENFORCEMENT OF THE SEED-IMPORTATION ACT. 



During the past year comparatively few lots of seed have been 

 offered for entry which did not comply with the requirements of the 

 Seed-Importation Act. Tlie most striking exceptions have been cer- 

 tain lots of Canadian alsike-clover screenings which have been im- 

 ported for the purpose of recleaning. 



Of those seeds covered by the act the importations during the fiscal 

 year 1919 have been few as compared with 1917 and the preceding 

 year, with the exception of alsike clover, of which 7 million pounds 

 were imported, as compared with 3i million pounds last year and 

 41 million pounds the previous year, these three years being those 

 of largest importation of this kind of seed. It is evident that practi- 

 cally this entire quantity of alsike-clover seed was put into consump- 

 tion, so there will be little, if any, carry-over of the seed imported 

 during the fiscal year. 



There was a remarkable falling off in the quantity of rapeseed 

 imported 639,000 pounds this year as compared with more than 

 11 1 million pounds last year, both years' importations coming princi- 

 pally from Japan. 



SEED TESTING. 



During the year, 18,820 samples of seed were received for test at 

 the Washington laboratory and 10,252 at the five branch laboratories 

 maintained in cooperation with State institutions. 



LABELING FIELD SEEDS. 



Following a conference with seedsmen in the summer of 1917, 

 representatives of the seed-trade associations and a large number of 

 individual seedsmen agreed to label all lots of field and forage-crop 

 seeds sold in quantities of 10 pounds or more with the percentage of 

 pure live seed, the date of the germination test, and in certain cases 

 the country of origin. In the spring of 1918, seeds of redtop and 

 red clover were purchased and examined to determine to what ex- 

 tent this agreement was kept. This examination showed that only 

 10 per cent of the lots of seeds purchased were found to be fully 

 labeled in accordance with the agreement. 



Practically all of the larger seed dealers now have facilities for 

 testing seeds and know the quality of the seeds they are handling, 

 but apparently most of them are not passing on to the farmer this 

 information, which is of vital importance to him. 



CRIMSON CLOVER. 



A series of trials designed to be carried on for five years has been 

 begun to determine whether French or domestic crimson-clover 

 seed is best for this country. These trials are being made in coopera- 



