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NEWS ITEMS 



A copy of the 4lh Annual Report of the Official Seed Testing 

 Station for England and Wales has recently been received. The 

 Station, a part of the National Institute of Agricultural Botany, 

 moved into new buildings at Cambridge, England, in the fall of 

 1 92 1. According to the report the station tested during the 

 >'ear 1920-21 nearly 24,000 samples of seed both for purity and 

 for germination. Seeds tested were of many kinds, clover, 

 wheat, mangolds (field beets), barley, peas, and rye grass lead- 

 ing in the number of samples. Over 2,500 samples of oats were 

 tested, 1,900 of wheat and 14 of maize! Most of the seeds 

 tested were sent by dealers, only seven percent coming from 

 farmers. Such work should be of great value and help in the 

 making of definite standards for seeds. 



In our January-February issue we spoke of the effort of the 

 government to eradicate "Flanders Poppies" which had been 

 found on ballast in N. J. In connection with the celebration 

 of Memorial Day by the wearing of poppies, suggestions have 

 appeared in the daily press in many parts of the country that 

 the poppies be planted as in commemoration of the world war. 

 When such plans are considered it is well to remember the re- 

 sults of introducing the English sparrow, the starling, the water 

 hyacinth, and other species of supposed value. 



Mr. John M. Fogg, Jr., now at the Philadelphia Academy of 

 Natural Sciences, will on September first take charge of the 

 Herbarium of the University of Pennsylvania. 



