IMPROVEMENT OF SEEDS AND SEED GRAINS. 13 
A. Any one could send a specimen to the laboratory here and get a preliminary 
report of the result in four or five days. 
By Mr. Cochrane: 
Q. For instance, I raise clover seed, say, and sell it to a merchant at Brighton and 
he sells it to the farmers, who did not raise their own seed. They purchased it. How 
could I grade that seed on the lines of the Bill you propose? 
A. Either the grower or the man who buys from the grower, to sell again, would 
take some representative sample, put it in a small bag, send it by mail—it comes 
free—to the seed laboratory here; and in a few days he would get back an exact state- - 
ment of the percentage of purity and of the vitality. 
By Mr. Robinson (Elgin): 
Q. It is a very difficult thing to clean the weeds out of the clover seed is it not? 
A. It is difficult; but it will lead to this good practice I think, that by and by 
giowers will ‘rogue’ their seed fields as it is called, that is they will go through and 
pull out the weeds while the crop is growing. 
Q. There is no sieve made that will take out all the weed seeds? 
A. Not all the weeds. There are so many different sizes and weights. I mention 
the matter of this Bill because I have the authority of the Acting Minister of Ag- 
riculture for saying that while the Bill has not yet been introduced, it ig more than 
likely that it will be referred to this Committee; and on that occasion, if the Committee 
desire, I should be glad to come to the Committee and discuss that Bill with them. 
I mention this now so as to attract the attention of the Committee to the subject. 
By the Chairman: 
Q. Practically we have the principle involved in this Bill applied to grain in the 
north-west, to the inspection of grain. 
By Mr. Thompson (Grey): 
@. Grain is a very different thing from seeds. 
A. The price paid is according to the grade, and when there is a dispute about 
the grade it is referred to the Government Inspector. There is no difficulty in getting 
judgment in a couple of days. 
By Mr. Cochrane: 
Q. If the law is made so that the seed would have to be graded, that would all have 
to be done before it is sold. 
By Mr. Ross (Ontario): 
Q. Did you say you could take the weeds out of the clover field ? 
A. That is done now very often; it is the easiest and most effective way. 
By Mr. Lennox: 
Q. Does that chart show the prices prevailing in the different places named at the 
game time? For instance, at Barrie $7.20 was the purchase price, while at Bradford, 
which is only a few miles distant, the price is quoted at $11. Were these the pre- 
yailing prices at these places at the same time? 
A. This is for alsike and that is for red clover; it is different seed you see. 
Those were the prevailing prices practically at the same time, because the collec- 
tion of seed was made in the spring, all about the same time, 
