12 THE SEEDS OF THE BLUEGRASSES. 
The foreign trade is much more critical than the domestic trade, and 
the seed exported usually weighs from 22 to 24 pounds per bushel, 
while the domestic trade is content with seed weighing from 18 to 20 
pounds. The heavier seed costs more per pound than the lighter seed, 
since there is more labor in its preparation, but it is cheaper for the 
purchaser. 
GERMINATION. 
The germination of commercial bluegrass seed is often poor. At 
the Zurich Seed Control Station the average percentage from 3,069 
samples of Kentucky bluegrass seed tested from 1876 to 1904 was 65 
per cent, while 908 samples of Poa trivialis tested showed an average 
of 72 per cent. The quality of Kentucky bluegrass seed as respects 
germination appears, however, to be improving. Last year’s tests at 
the Zurich station gave an average of 68 per cent, while a few years 
ago 50 per cent was considered fair or satisfactory. Only the best 
seed goes to Europe, and consequently the percentage of germination 
of that offered in this country is low. As carefully cured seed will 
germinate from 80 to 90 per cent, the cause for the poor quality of 
commercial seed is doubtless to be found in the way it is harvested and 
cured.“ The usual process is to pile the freshly stripped seed in ricks, 
either outdoors or in barns. This mass heats quickly if not stirred 
often during the first few days. One pile left without stirring reached 
a temperature of 140° F. in sixteen hours, killing all the seed. 
GROWING AND HANDLING. 
With the exception of our native western species, more or less seed 
of all the commercial Poas is gathered in Europe, where they are 
found wild. The harvesting is done by hand from the natural mead- 
ows, woods, or other uncultivated areas. The seed is cleaned by hand 
and carried to market in small quantities and collected by dealers who 
supply the trade. The United States furnishes Europe with Kentucky 
bluegrass seed, and Europe furnishes the seed of rough-stalked meadow 
grass and wood meadow grass, as well as of the other commercial 
species of Poa used in this country. 
Poa pratensis (Kentucky bluegrass).—The bulk of the Kentucky 
bluegrass seed comes from a limited area known as the bluegrass 
region of Kentucky. The counties of Bourbon, Scott, Fayette, Clark, 
and Woodford furnish most of it, although there is a small quantity 
saved in Shelby County. Some is harvested in southwestern Illinois, 
and there is another area on the border between Missouri and Iowa 
where a considerable amount of seed is saved. The seed is gathered 
from the natural woodland pastures as well as from those where it has 
io 
aSee Bulletin No. 19, Bureau of Plant Industry, ‘‘ Kentucky Bluegrass Seed: Har- 
vesting, Curing, and Cleaning.”’ 
