3, 



Official Ixspectioxs 88. 65 



At the end of every second day in the case of some seeds, 

 and the third day in the case of those germinating more slowly, 

 the sprouted seeds should be removed from the blotters or the 

 sand and counted, the per cent being readily found by referring 

 back to the number of seeds which were taken for the test. If 

 ioo seeds are used, the number that sprout give the vitality 

 per cent. 



Results of Inspection 



The grass seeds on sale in Maine were inspected in 1918 by 

 the Seed Analyst. His experience makes it possible to tell by ob- 

 servation in most instances whether a seed is or is not up to its 

 guaranteed purity. In 19 18 he visited 225 dealers and examined 

 811 samples of seeds. The varieties examined are given in the 

 table on page 76. 



The table on pages 66 and 67 gives a list of the weed seeds 

 found in the grass seeds examined. The table on pages 68 and 

 following give the results of the examination of the samples of 

 seeds that were handled in the laboratory during the season. Only 

 samples taken in accordance with the directions prescribed by the 

 Commissioner of Agriculture and those taken by the inspector 

 are here reported. The first column gives the laboratory number 

 and in the case of samples sent in by correspondents this fact is 

 indicated by the sign f . 



The second column gives the kind of seed, the name and ad- 

 dress of the dealer and the brand and lot number. The first col- 

 umn of figures gives the guaranteed .percentage of purity and the 

 next column shows the percentage of pure seeds found in the 

 sample. The last column gives the list by numbers of the noxious 

 weed seeds found in the sample. By reference to the table on 

 pages 66 and 67 the kinds of weed seeds these numbers represent 

 can be learned. Sometimes part of the impurities are other grass 

 and clover seeds. These are not listed. 



The following illustrates the way the table may be used to 

 find the story it has to tell. 



The first seed in the table (page 68) is an alsike clover, the 

 sample was taken at Merrill Brothers, Augusta. It was offered 

 under the name of Eureka Alsike. Its lot number was 116 

 W. D. It was guaranteed to be 97 per cent pure. It was found 

 to be 98.9 per cent pure. It contained black medick and sheep 

 sorrell as noxious weed seeds. 



