58 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 



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ill any other business, if a man is not willing to pay the price 

 of a first-class article be can be accommodated with something 

 inferior. 



One great mistake which the farmer makes is the buying of 

 seed from the small country stores, as it has been found in many 

 cases during the past year that these seeds were improperly 

 cleaned, or not cleaned at all. We therefore strongly advise 

 purchasing seed from a reliable dealer rather than buying them 

 haphazard anywhere. 



The table gives briefly the results of the seed purity tests 

 carried on this year. This table is practically self-explanatory, 

 and gives briefly the different kinds of seed examined, with the 

 maximum, minimum and average percentage of purity, as well 

 as the kinds of weed seeds found and the number of samples 

 in which these were found. The most common impurities in 

 the different kinds of seed examined were plantain, ribgrass, 

 sheep sorrel and dock. Dodder might be mentioned as being 

 among the most noxious of seeds found in the clovers and 

 alfalfa, but it was present in only a small percentage of the 

 samples submitted for examination. 



In this table no mention has been made of the chaff, bits of 

 stem and dirt which were found in the samples, as these were 

 usually present only in small amounts. 



It is believed that it would be advisable for Massachusetts 

 to draw up a seed law governing the sale of commercial seeds, 

 but this should not be done without great deliberation and the 

 utmost care, as it appears to us that many of the laws drawn up 

 by other States are either harmful, or unjust to the seed dealer, 

 or to the purchaser of commercial seed. At the present time 

 nothing can be done about this, but it is hoped that in the near 

 future the seed dealers and farmers will take up the matter, 

 and that some law may be passed which will protect both the 

 farmer and the dealer. Justice should be done to both parties, 

 and we do not believe that it will bo a difficult matter to draw 

 up a law which will not only protect the buyer from purchasing 

 impure seeds offered for sale in this State which are grown out- 

 side of the State, and shipped in for sale, but would also protect 

 the Massachusetts seed dealer as well. 



According to some of the laws in our neighboring States, 



