1908 
Marcu, 
When magnified nine times poor alfalfa seed looKs 
like this; quite a difference from that below 
Good alfalfa seed magnified nine times 
intentionally, or whether it is just naturally 
poor, makes little difference to the farmer. 
The result is the same to him in either case 
—wasted money and a poor crop. He 
gets it at both ends—spends money for 
nothing in buying poor seed and spoils a 
crop by using it, which costs him more 
money. 
The United States Department of Agri- 
culture is trying to suppress seed adulter- 
ation by publishing, by authority of laws 
recently enacted, the names and addresses 
of firms known to sell adulterated seeds 
or who misbrand the goods they sell. 
If you buy your seeds from a reputable 
house you can be assured that you are getting 
seeds which are practically pure. Yet it 
is always a good plan to test them before 
sowing in order that you may know their 
power of germination. This is especially 
true of high-bred varieties. Take the 
cauliflower, for instance; it is a fact that 
the seeds of the best varieties, which cost 
fifty or sixty dollars an ounce, do not possess 
as high a germinating power as the seeds 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
of varieties costing only six to ten dollars 
an ounce. Having the percentage of germi- 
nation, one can sow his seed accordingly. 
To make an accurate test, a fair sample 
of seed must be taken. Ifa small quantity 
of not more than five bushels is to be sampled, 
spread it out thin upon some flat surface 
—floor or table—and thoroughly mix it by 
hand, after which small quantities are 
taken from ten or twelve different parts of 
the mass and mixed together to form the 
sample. 
Seeds in a bin are sampled with a grain 
sampler, which is a hollow rod with openings 
along the sides and a valve which admits 
seeds to the openings. This is plunged 
into the bin, the valve opened and then 
closed again. When withdrawn it contains 
seeds from various depths of the pile. The 
same thing can be done by hand, first select- 
ing small quantities of seed from on top, 
then from near the centre (plunging the arm 
down with hand closed and then opening 
it and taking a handful) and finally by taking 
seed from near the bottom in the same way. 
If the seed is in sacks, take from top, middle 
and bottom of each sack if but a few sacks, 
and from the centre of each sack if there 
are many. 
In sampling corn on the cob, the corn 
should be piled in ricks. Take one ear 
indiscriminately from each square foot, 
each five square feet or each ten square feet 
of suriace according to the quantity to be 
sampled. Shell the corn and sample it as 
with bulk seed. The idea is to get a repre- 
sentative sample of the seed. As shifting, 
moving and other conditions affect the 
distribution of heavy and light seeds, a 
small quantity taken from only one place 
in a lot would not be a fair sample. 
In the larger, heavier seeds (corn, wheat, 
oats, peas, beans, etc.) the trained eye can 
readily recognize whether the seed is of 
average purity. Sticks, stones, chaff, dirt, 
etc., are readily seen in small quantities of 
relatively large seeds. In the smaller seeds, 
such as lettuce, onion, timothy, red top, 
clovers, alfalfa, etc., adulteration is less 
easily distinguished. If you have doubts 
as to the purity of the seed, you can have 
it tested either by your State Experiment 
Station or by the United States Department 
of Agriculture, for it is the work of an expert. 
It is really much more important to know 
the germinating power of the seed—how 
much will actually grow—for practically 
the only adulteration that high grade seeds 
contain are “‘dead seeds” and it is impossible 
to buy seeds which do not contain at least 
a small per cent. of these. The seed with 
the greatest percentage of germinative 
power is the best seed to use. And the way 
to test it is as follows: 
Take a piece of clean flannel cloth which 
has been washed and fold it once. Moisten 
it until it is thoroughly damp but not drip- 
ping wet, and lay it upon a dinner plate. 
Count out carefully enough seed for a fair 
sample—a hundred is a convenient number 
if the seeds are not too large—and lay them 
carefully separated upon the inner fold 
of cloth, covering with the out fold. Then 
75 
invert a second plate upon the whole and 
set in a warm place. The temperature in 
winter should never be less than 50 degrees 
at night and 65 degrees or 70 degrees in the 
daytime. The cloth should not be allowed 
to dry out, a little moisture being added 
when necessary, but if the plates fit well 
together it will stay moist for a long time. 
Every day the little germinating chamber 
must be examined and the sprouted seeds 
removed, and a careful record kept of the 
number. When the test is completed, the 
number of seeds which sprouted is to be 
compared with the original number and 
the percentage of good seed thus determined. 
It is wise to make duplicate tests at the same 
time, and strike the average between them; 
but if they vary more than ro per cent., 
make a new set of duplicate tests. Tests 
range in time from a few days to a month; 
a seed will sprout in a germinating chamber 
in from one-half to one-fifth the time neces- 
sary for it to sprout in the ground. 
These two views show how slight is the difference 
between Kentucky and Canadian blue-grass 
Canada blue-grass is bigger. Both magnified nine times 
