WHERE SEEDS ARE GROWN 325 



90 per cent. Then 95 times 90 equals 85.5, the actual relative value 

 of the seed. 



Adulteration of Seeds. Adulteration of seeds means the addi- 

 tion of some cheaper seed that is so similar that it will not be readily 

 noticed. Thus sweet clover or yellow trefoil may be added to alfalfa 

 or red clover. Several of the grasses are similar enough to permit 

 of intermixing without easy detection. Seeds used as adulterants 

 are often killed by heating, so the deception will not be discovered 

 when the crop is grown. As serious an offence is mixing old seed 

 that has lost vitality with good seed. 



Buying Grass Seed. Grass seeds are graded in the market 

 according to quality. If only first-grade seeds are purchased from 

 reliable seed houses, there will be little danger of either poor quality 

 or adulteration. It is the large demand by the farmers for cheap 

 seed that causes most of the trouble. However, there are occasions 

 when very good seed can be bought cheap, due to presence of some 

 harmless weed or other impurity that may injure appearance but not 

 quality of the seed. 



Where Seeds Are Grown. According to the Census, there 

 were 6,671,348 bushels of grass, clover, and alfalfa seed grown in 

 the United States. The leading States in production were Illinois, 

 Iowa, Minnesota, and Kentucky. 



Timothy seed is grown largely in Iowa and Minnesota, though 

 some seed is produced throughout the whole timothy region. Iowa 

 and Minnesota produce about two-thirds of the seed crop. 



Redtop is grown principally in southern Illinois. 



Kentucky blue-grass is grown principally in the region of Lex- 

 ington, Kentucky, though it is also grown in both Illinois and Iowa. 



Canadian blue-grass comes from the province of Ontario, 

 Canada. 



Meadow fescue, produced in northeastern Kansas, Marshall 

 County. 



Or chard- grass. From near Louisville, Kentucky, on both sides 

 of the Ohio Eiver. 



Clover Seed. Separate data for each kind of clover are not given. 

 Three-fourths of the crop was, in 1909, grown by the five adjacent 



