SELECTION AND SAMPLING OF SEED. 159 



Numerous authorities have taken upon them- 

 selves to determine the number of sprouts given by 

 one gram. Sempolowski declares that the following 

 is about an average, and may be an excellent basis 

 of classification: 



Those seeds which give 81 to 112 sprouts, per gram Excellent. 



" •' " " 55 to 80 '• " fiood. 



" " " " 40 to 54 " '* Average 



" " " " less than 40 should he considered... Bad. 



This differs from Knauer's early classification, 

 where superior seed were considered to be those where 

 there were only sixty sprouts per gram, and an average 

 quality less than fifty. The germinating power is not 

 the only fact which should be considered. 



Selection of Seed. 



The farmer, when purchasing seed in general, has 

 some basis to work upon which is sufficiently accurate 

 for general practical purposes. On the other hand, 

 with beet seed he is at a great disadvantage. That the 

 color, the impurities, odor, etc., are characteristics 

 upon which certain reliance may be placed, no one for 

 an instant doubts, but these are not sufficient to decide 

 in advance the money value of the product being 

 examined; hence, the subject is of more than ordinary 

 interest. The seed formation and its maturity is a 

 most variable factor, even on the same stalk to which 

 the matured seed adheres more or less firmly. Some 

 seeds fall as soon as the stalk is touched, while others 

 adhere with moderate or excessive firmness,' and can 

 be separated only by the use of a special instrument, 

 the moderately adhering type representing three- 

 fourths of the total seed obtained. M. Legras has 

 cultivated beets from the latter and does not hesitate 

 to assert that they yield roots 0.60 per cent, richer in 

 sugar than either the loose or tenacious kind; this may 

 be a starting point for still further selection and is cer- 

 tainly well worth looking into. 



