4 MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. I907. 



ingly lowered in value. Furthermore the. weed seeds which 

 the seed contains may be pernicious. While it is not easy to 

 make an' exact purity test, it is not difficult for a farmer to so 

 acquaint himself with the more common seeds that by the 

 help of an ordinary magnifying glass he will be able to tell 

 whether the seed in question contains any considerable amount 

 of impurities. If the seed is spread out upon a white plate, 

 a little practice will enable the farmer to see whether a given 

 seed is reasonably pure or not, and he will soon learn to detect 

 the more common foreign seeds. 



It is much easier for the farmer to test the vitality of seed 

 than to make, a purity examination. Bulletin 125 of this Sta- 

 tion contains simple directions for performing germination tests 

 at home without any special apparatus, by means of which the 

 farmer can learn for himself whether or not the seed he is 

 using has good vitality. 



RESULTS OF THE INSPECTION. 



As it was expected would be the case, it was found that only 

 a few dealers were conforming to the requirements of the law. 

 It was also found that much of the seed offered was of inferior 

 quality and that in many instances it contained dangerous weed 

 seeds. No prosecutions have been made for the violations of 

 the law but all dealers whose names appear in the Maine Regis- 

 ter have been notified that illegal sales must cease. Further 

 violations of the law will be duly followed up. 



The table on pages 3 and 4 summarizes the results of exam- 

 ination of samples of seeds examined by the Station in 1905. 



The table on pages 5 to 46 contains the, detailed analyses of 

 samples collected by the, Station and those sent in by corre- 

 spondents. Some of the samples were sent by the dealers 

 and it does not necessarily mean that they were offered for 

 sale in Maine. In some instances it is certain that when the 

 examination showed the seeds to be of low purity, they were 

 not brought into the State. 



The table on pages 47 and 48 contains a list of the weeds 

 obtained from seeds here reported upon. They are arranged 

 alphabetically in accordance with the English name. As the 

 common name differs in different parts of the country, the 

 scientific name, is given for the purpose of identification. 



