Ill 



by their actually using them in practice, thus tending toward uniformity ; 

 also, it has shown us rather definitely the limitations or variations which 

 may be expected with some kinds of seeds and the mixtures of seeds. 

 Out of this work there has also come two increasingly distinct conclusions 

 or deductions, namely, that with a variable, truly biological product 

 such as seeds, apparatus and laboratory equipment or facilities are not 

 the prime essentials, and, on the other hand, great knowledge or skill 

 are not necessarily the things of greatest importance. It is very plain 

 that there must be a happy medium of these two essentials or prime 

 requisites. We are trying to bring all the analysts to realize most fully 

 that there is no piece of work which requires more skill and thorough 

 knowledge of Conditions than viability testing of seeds, and certainly no 

 work which requires greater good judgment or mental acumen than seed 

 purity analysis. In other words, carelessness, poor judgment, lack of 

 skill or training on the part of the analyst at any point in the process 

 of securing the sample or its analysis, inadequate equipment, working 

 conditions or facilities, most immistakably show in the final results. On 

 the other hand, oiu" years of referee testing work have shown most con- 

 clusively, we believe, that laboratories adequately equipped and properly 

 manned do produce consistent, characteristic, and wholly dependable 

 results. 



As to the methods of testing, we urge that all the analysts in the 

 Association use the suggested " Rules for Seed Testing " as recommended 

 by the Association. These rules are revised from time to time under 

 the guidance of a special research committee as new and better knowledge 

 is gained through research and experience. Our rules for testing have 

 always provided for the use of the so-called " continental " method of 

 purity analysis ot grasses. We feel that, in connection with purity analysis, 

 a result is not complete unless it shows the percentage of the four com- 

 ponent parts of commercial seed : — ^namely, pm-e seed, weed seed, inert 

 matter, and other crop seed, if any, or all of such as are present. The 

 grouping oi weed seeds and other crop seeds or incidental seeds into 

 one component does not supply the information which both the vendor 

 and the ultimate user should have. There may be some instances where 

 it is economically impossible to classify a plant as a weed or as a crop 

 plant, but such are the exception rather than the rule. In reporting 

 upon the viability of a given lot of seed, we feel that the best, interests of 

 all are met when the percentage of germination in terms of normal sprouts 

 is given, and, in addition, the percentage of hard seeds or impermeable seeds 

 when testing Leguminosae. The matter of seed-borne plant diseases is 

 most important and many of our analysts are now making reports upon 

 this matter in all cases where indicated. 



It is rather difficult to state definitely just what is being done in the 

 seed testing laboratories in America in the way of pure research upon 

 seed problems, since the line between research and routine testing is not 

 very marked : in fact, some of our most valuable facts have come out 

 of routine testing work, and we feel that it is a sad mistake to discard, 

 or leave untabulated, any data which may, at any point, yield information 

 as to weed dispersal or population increase, provenance or origin, seed 

 longevity, hard seededness, spread of plant diseases through seed-borne 

 parasites, or any of a number of such indications which the mass of seed 

 material may present. Our Association has an active committee on 

 research and methods of testing through which the research work is being 

 pressed forward, attacking the hard-seed problem, vegetable and flower 

 seesd germination, longevity, seed-borne diseases, effects of frost or 

 freezing, seed disinfection,- and, among other things, the fundamental 

 gerinination studies upon which we can base present testing practice. 

 Analysts are encouraged to attack their' tasks with the research spirit, 

 and, to this end, the most successful supervising analysts or officers have- 

 arranged the work of the laboratory, so that competent and qualified 

 workers may take advantage of every opportunity afforded to add some- 

 thing to the sum total of knowledge. 



