50 LUCERNE CULTURE. 



There are so ne hundred or more different kinds of dodder 

 known to botanists, each of which is parasitic upon a single species 

 or upon a restricted lumber of plants, but not upon anything indis- 

 criminately. The generic name is Cuscuta, and in Europe the 

 commonest species are C. Euvopaea, C. epilimun and C. e pithy mum. 

 The last named was first reported in the Cape Colony at Graaff- 

 Reinet in 1895. In America twenty-five species are known, of 

 which, on lucerne, C. Arvensis is common in the eastern States, and 

 C. epithymum in the west ; hence these are to be speeially looked 

 for in seed introduced from those quarters. 



In South Africa there are quite a number of dodders. Those 

 above mentioned have been introduced with seed, and are only too 

 frequently found amongst lucerne. Besides them there are native 

 sorts, such as C. Africana and C. apptnlicnlata, which occur natur- 

 ally upon wild bushes in the veld. These often attack lucerne, to 

 which, however, they do not appear to be quite as fatal as are the 

 other varieties. But these two last named possess one characteristic 

 making them more objectionable than the other dodders, the 

 seed is more nearly equal in size to lu?erne seed. This ren- 

 ders it impossible to be removed by thj recognised process for 

 cleaning lucerne seed, that of passing it over sieves of twenty 

 meshes to the inch, which allows imst ordinary didder to pass 

 through and retains the smallest lucerne seed. It is, therefore, 

 more than ever important to us, especially when buying Col uaial 

 seed, to insist upon it, as a reasonable precaution, that the seed \\\is 

 collected from a dodder- free crop and kept free from contamination 

 with dodder in threshing, bagging or elsewhere. No cleaning 

 process is likely to remove these large seeded dodders. Though 

 less harmful than others, these sorts are none the less to be avoided 

 at all costs. These faets rend3r it all the more imperative that 

 dodder whenever bund should be destroyed. 



The general question of the quality of seed sold, as used 

 throughout the Colony, is receiving much popular attention at the 

 present time. It is coming more and more to be felt 'that, while it 

 is obviously impracticable to define exactly what is seed fit for s Vw- 

 ing and what is not, yet there should be some means of ascertaining 

 readily the quality of any particular sample. Following upon the 

 lines already adopted in foreign countries, it is proposed by legis- 

 lation to provide facilities for the proper examination of seed 

 leaving it to the individual discretion of vendor and buyer whether 

 to make use of the opportunities provided. Certificates will b- 

 issued stating the results of analysis of samples up. on which the 

 buyer may depend, and whereby the true value of the s:wl may be 

 accurately assessed. 



In the particular case of lucsrne a special examination for the 

 presence of dodder is requisite. For this purpose a certain arbi- 

 trary standard has been adopted by all the leading seed testing 

 laboratories, whereby it is laid down that if a sa.nple properly 



