official inspections 28. i3i 



Seed Oats. 

 Quite a large number of complaints were sent to the Experi- 

 ment Station (luring the laie spring mnnihs that oats which had 

 been sown failed to germinate. All of these cases which were 

 reported to the Experiment Station were investigated and in 

 every instance it was found that bleached, clipped oats had been 

 used for seed. In no case was it foimd that the local dealer 

 had purchased seed oats bi:t that he hail purchased for general 

 feeding purposes. Nor was it clear that in any case the person 

 who purchased from the local dealer with the intention of using 

 the oats for seed made known to him at the time of purchase 

 what his object was in buying the oats. Naturally good, 

 selected, heavy, seed oats sell at a price very considerably in 

 advance of oats intended for feeding purposes only. It is cer- 

 tainly very bad economy on the part of the farmer to purchase 

 oats for seeding purposes that were not specially grown and 

 specially cleaned for seed. 



The Results of Inspection. 



The inspection of grass seed sold in Maine in 1910 were 

 made almost entirely by the seed analyst whose experience 

 makes it possible for him to tell almost at a glance whether a" 

 seed is or is not what it is guaranteed. In all suspicious cases 

 in which he was in doubt samples were taken. It therefore hap- 

 pens that the samples, tl e analyses of which are here reported, 

 are the doubtful ones that were found within the State and rep- 

 resent a selection made from very many hundred lots. 



Several samples of alsike from the same source were found 

 to be misbrandcd in that their ]icrcertage of purity was lower 

 than claimed. In all these case-, however, it was tracerl back 

 to the farlt of a very careful shij^per and was undoubtedlv due 

 to a clerical error in the office. Xo prosecution was made. 



There has been a very remarkable improvement in the qual- 

 ity of grass seed which is ban. lied and there were practically 

 no violations of the law in this Siaie in 1910. In only two 

 instances were seeds found unguaranteed and these were 

 through an ovcrsig'-t on the part of the handler. Tin's 

 imp''Oved condition of Maine g''as- seed has been bro\TT-ht abo'it 

 chiefly by patiert education. It ha<; ^cddom been ncces'^ary in 

 all the years that the law has been in effect to resort to prosecu- 

 tion. 



