IMPROVEMENT OF SEEDS AND SEED GRAINS. il 
‘Now if you observe that chart—one half of it applies to eastern Ontario dnd the 
other half to western Ontario—you will see thatthe sample of Red Clover bought at 
Ottawa at $7.80 per bushel contained 86 per cent vital seed. Therefore the cost of 
the pure vital seed was $9.07 per bushel; and the sample contained 5,535 weed seeds 
in every pound. 
By Mr. Ross (Ontario): 
Q. How many seeds are there to the bushel in Red Clover? 
A. I think about 350,000 to a pound. I have not the exact figure in my mind. 
Q. 14 per cent of that would be weeds and 86 per cent pure seed? 
A. No, there would be some dead seeds you know and some seeds o1 other useful 
plants. The weeds would amount to 5,000 out of eyery 350,000, or one weed for every 
seventy clover seeds. We had the number of weed seeds put there to show this. If 
one sows 12 pounds to the acre of this Red Clover seed bought in Ottawa he would 
seed 66,000 weed seeds per acre. This is the appalling side of it. If you take the next 
sample it would be still worse ; and worst ofall if he were sowing seed like the last 
sample, from Renfrew—it was found to contain nearly 37,000 weed seeds per pound, 
to be exact 36,990 seeds of weeds per pound of what was sold as clover seed. The actual 
value of the pure vital seeds as shown in that other column would be for that Renfrew 
sample $10.74 for each bushel; but with that seed, when the farmer, sowed it, he would 
sow on his farm, even if he only used 10 pounds to the acre, 369,900 weed seeds to the 
acre. One year’s seeding and seven years of weeding in very fact. There is a striking 
fact for the farmers to consider. 
By Mr. McGowan: 
Q. Is there no remedy under the existing law? 
A. The Minister of Agriculture intends to bring down a Bill to parliament this 
year to remedy this. 
By Mr. Ross (Ontario): 
Are these vital weeds? 
. Yes, we tested many of them. 
Some of them objectionable? 
Yes, very. 
Any of them harmless? 
I would not call any of them harmless. 
POPOPO 
By Mr. Robinson (Elgin): 
Q. How many varieties did you notice? 
A. I could not give you that, but I know that we found only five or six samples 
over the Dominion out of the 513 we bought that were free from weeds. In some 
distant parts of the Dominion, remote from the source of supply, we found seeds hardly 
anything better than screenings being sold to the farmers. Now it is exceedingly 
difficult for anybody by a simple examination of seed to tell its quality. Even expert 
seedsmen cannot tell by merely looking at them. 
By Mr. Ross (Ontario): 
Q. Can you tell us the process of testing this seed? 
A. Yes. We have first of all the sample of the seed to be tested thoroughly mixed; 
then a small portion of that is taken for examination. 
Q. One pound? 
A. Oh, no, a small quantity will do, usually about ten grammes. The portion 
selected is spread out on paper of a colour to suit the seed; and girls who are trained in 
the work separate the various sorts of impurities from the real seed. Then the latter 
is weighed and that gives the per cent of pure seed. Then 200 seeds of that are put-in 
