I98 MAINS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. I908. 



TABLE SHOWING SEEDS GERMINATED AETER TREATMENT WITH 

 EORMALDEHYDE. 



Sta. 

 I No. 



No. weed seeds sprouted per bag 

 (100 lbs. of feed) 



Principal kinds of weed seeds sprouted 



2636 



H. J. FLAX FEED 

 226,800 



MERRITT'S JERSEY COW 



Pigweed 



2793 

 2809 



68,040 



FEED 



Mustard 



2847 







2892 

 2018 



2960 

 2960* 



MOLAC FEED 



22,680 

 45,360 



SUCRENE DAIRY 



45,360 



181,440 



Pigweed 

 Pigweed, foxtail 



Pigweed, foxtail 

 Pigweed 



*Weed seeds separated from rest of feed and seed germinated in Petrie dish. 

 DISCUSSION OF RESULTS OF GERMINATION. 



The negative results which are here recorded are of course 

 not conclusive. The weed seeds which did not germinate in 

 some of these samples might under more favorable conditions 

 sprout and grow. The positive results, on the other hand, show 

 conclusively that the weed seeds present are alive and will grow 

 when suitable conditions are at hand. It is quite certain that 

 many of these weed seeds would pass unharmed through the 

 digestive organs of the animals to which they were fed and 

 would find their way to the fields of the owner. A recent 

 bulletin of the Vermont Experiment Station, No. 131, has the 

 following to say in regard to this question of weed seeds : — 

 "Sheep and poultry handle them well; but the digestive system 

 of neither horse nor cow is able to destroy them. To employ 

 materials carrying viable weed seed in the mixture of "dairy" 

 or "horse" feeds, even though they are plastered over with 

 molasses, is little short of atrocity." 



CORN COCKLE IN WHEAT OFFALS.* 



As may be readily seen in the tables only a very few of the 



wheat offals, such as the brans, middlings, and mixed feeds 



contained more weed seeds than should be the case when 



proper care is used in the separations and grindings. One 



* See page 202 relative to poisonous weed seeds in feeding stuffs. 



