SWEET VERNAL-GRASS 663 



acquainted with the peculiarities of seeds of all kinds, as it is 

 want of information and apathy which very often makes low 

 standards prevalent. 



If in the purchase of all kinds of seeds the following points 

 were insisted upon, and guarantees obtained in respect of them, 

 there would be much less failure than there is at present, and 

 the farmer would be more likely to obtain honest value for his 

 expenditure. 



(a.) Never buy mixed seeds. 



(A) Always buy by weight, or weight per bushel. 



(c.) Insist upon having guarantees in respect of purity and 

 germination capacity. 



There are firms who will give no guarantee of any kind : they 

 are manifestly unfair in thus refusing what is an honest and 

 reasonable demand, and seeing that there are houses which are 

 willing to supply seeds on the above basis, doubtful firms should 

 be strenuously avoided. Similar difficulty in regard to guarantees 

 for purity and composition of another important item of the 

 farm, namely, artificial manure, has been partially mastered, and 

 the necessity of checking purchases by analysis is beginning 

 to be understood by the farmer in the case of manures and 

 feeding-stuffs. It is in respect of seeds that the same principle 

 requires application in order to prevent disappointment and loss. 



Cereals. — For the characters of the different cereal grains see 

 chapters xxxvi. to xxxix. Samples of these grains should be 

 practically free from all impurities, and should have a germina- 

 tion capacity of at least 90 per cent. 



Sweet Vernal-Grass {Anthoxanthum odoratum L.) 



Form, Size, and Colour. — The spikelets of this grass have 

 only one fertile flower, and the commercial seeds consist of two 

 empty glumes, between which are the minute flowering glume 

 and pale enclosing the caryopsis. The empty glumes are a 

 rich, chestnut-brown colour, with whitish tips. The surface of 

 these outer glumes is covered with fine, brown, silky hairs, and 



