NEEDS OF THE SEED 173 



120. Seed should be tested to determine what per cent 

 of it will sprout and to find out whether it contains im- 

 purities such as dirt, weed seeds, and chaff. Farmers 

 often lose heavily by using poor seed. The Iowa Experi- 

 ment Station at one time tested 3300 samples of seed corn 

 and found only sixty per cent of the samples good enough 

 to use. Under the most favorable conditions this seed as 

 a whole would produce but little more than half a crop. 



121. The quantity of seed to sow to the acre varies some- 

 what with the character of the soil and with its prepara- 

 tion. 



The following table of a few common kinds of seeds 

 shows the quantity of each that has been found most 

 profitable for an acre of average land in good tilth. 



Alfalfa (broadcast) 9 to 12 quarts 



Alfalfa (drilled) 6 to 8 quarts 



Clover (alsike) 5 to 10 quarts 



Clover (red) 6 to 10 quarts 



Corn 6 to 7 quarts 



Corn (for silage) 9 to 12 quarts 



Oats 2to3 bushels 



Potatoes 10 to 20 bushels 



Rye 4 to 8 pecks 



Timothy 1 to 2 pecks 



Wheat t 6 to 10 pecks 



122. Needs of the Seed. A seed is a plantlet asleep, or 

 in its resting stage. It may live a long time without 

 change, if kept cool and dry ; or it may awaken to activity 

 in a few days, if kept warm and moist. Good seed will 

 not sprout well in an ice chest, even with plenty of air 

 and water ; nor will it do so in a well-corked bottle with 

 sufficient water and the proper degree of heat; nor in a 

 dry room with warmth and air. Warmth, air, and mois- 

 ture, all three, must be present in the soil for the awak- 

 ening of the seed. 



