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Summary of conditions in the United States. 



1. Seed testing- is recognized as one of the essential factors in agriculture. 



2. Thirty-seven States have laws regulating the quality of agricultural seeds which 

 may be sold within the State, and maintain seed testing laboratories. 



3. Most seed dealers have their own seed testing laboratories. 



, 4. Practically all of the field seeds sold in the United States are tested for quality 

 either in official- laboratories or privately by seed dealers. 



5. The Association of Official Seed Analysts of North America and the Seed Trade 

 Associations are co-operating to improve the quality of agricultural seeds in the 

 United States. 



5-A. The Association of Official Seed Analysts of North America, including in its member- 

 ship all official analysts in the United States and Canada, while without authority 

 to enforce its decisions, formulates and suggests remedial legislation and studies and 

 recommends technical methods for seed testing. 



5-B. Many of the States having seed laws, specify that tests be made according to the 

 methods recommended by the Association of Official Seed Analysts of North America. 



5-C. In testing grasses, caryopses without embryos are considered as inert matter. 



6. The sale of adulterated and misbranded agricultural seed has been very greatly 

 reduced in the United States: 



7. The Seed Importation Act prevents the importation into the United States of 

 low-grade field seeds. 



8. The United States is a large factor in the .international trade in agricultural seeds. 

 In view of the present conditions in the United States, our international needs 



appear to be as follows: 



1. We should know the methods of testing seeds in all countries with which we have 

 reciprocal trade. 



2. The greatest possible uniformity in such methods, but more particularly uniformity 

 in results should be obtained. 



3. Both the analysts and the seed trade should be familiar with trade customs as well 

 as with import restrictions of each country. ; 



4. As it is uneconomic to ship to a country seeds of such low quality that they are 

 of little or no agricultural value, or- will be prohibited from going into trade on 

 arrival, some means should be found for preventing the export of such valueless 

 material. 



5. At. present, there is no sound basis for the determination of quality in the case of 

 disagreement arising out of international commerce in seeds. Following the adoption 

 of uniform methods by analysts, an agreement among international merchants to rest 

 arbitration as to quality on official analyses made in the country of arrival would 

 stabilize trade and largely eliminate the shipment of low grade seed." 



