SEED 221 



with the seeds of such a pest as Dodder, 

 a parasitic plant of the natural order Con- 

 volvulaceae, which by attaching itself to 

 clover, flax, and certain other cultivated 

 plants, is capable of doing a large amount 

 of harm. Or the impurity may take the 

 form of weed seed, such as Twitch, Bindweed, 

 Sorrel, and many others. Such an impurity 

 is objectionable on many grounds, not only 

 because the higher the percentage of impurity 

 the less the percentage of the seed that one 

 desires to purchase, but also because, through 

 the agency of such impurities, weeds may be 

 introduced to land hitherto clean. The 

 question of impurities is of least importance 

 where the seed is to be used upon land that 

 is by no means clean, and becomes of the 

 highest importance where one is cultivating 

 land as free from weeds as it is possible to 

 secure. 



Cleanness, as apart from purity of species, 

 means the absence of chaff, empty husks, grit, 

 sand, and the like ; and while such substances 

 are not positively harmful, their presence hi 

 a sample necessarily depresses the percentage 

 of the seed which one desires to sow. 



In purchasing seed of all kinds, one should 

 as a rule accept only that which is of high 

 germinative capacity. This is a property 



