State  Aid  to  Agriculture  in  Canada. 
101 
mostly  grass  and  clover  seeds,  numbered  6,428,  of  which  1,188 
were  tested  at  Calgary. 
Administration  of  the  Seed  Control  Act  of  1905  is  also  an 
important  duty  of  the  Branch.  This  Act,  as  amended,  prohibits 
the  sale  of  farm  seed  containing  specified  noxious  weeds  such 
as  charlock,  wild  oats,  sow  thistle,  ragweed,  ergot,  &c.,  and 
provides  for  the  sale  in  two  grades  of  timothy,  alsike,  red  clover, 
and  lucerne  seed.  Grade  No.  1 must  contain  not  more  than 
five  seeds  per  ounce  of  the  weeds  named  for  timothy,  red  clover, 
and  lucerne,  and  ten  per  ounce  for  alsike,  and  must  contain  99 
per  cent,  of  the  kind  represented.  Of  these  ninety-nine  seeds 
ninety  must  be  capable  of  germinating.  Seed  not  coming  up  to 
this  standard  but  containing  not  more  than  five  noxious  weed 
seeds  per  1,000  of  good  seed  may  be  legally  sold  if  it  is  not  marked 
“ No.  1 ” or  otherwise  represented  as  being  of  first  quality. 
Provision  lately  has  also  been  made  for  the  fixing  of  percentage 
standards  of  vitality  and  for  prohibition  of  the  sale  of  seeds 
falling  below  two-thirds  of  the  standard  fixed,  unless  branded 
with  the  actual  percentage  of  germination.  The  number  of 
samples  tested  under  the  Act  in  1910  was  294.  Convictions 
were  secured  for  the  most  serious  violations,  and  publication 
of  the  names  of  the  offenders  acted  as  a further  deterrent. 
In  co-operation  with  the  provincial  Departments  of 
Agriculture  the  Branch  assists  in  the  organisation  of  com- 
petitions in  fields  of  standing  seed  grain  and  of  seed  fairs  and 
exhibitions.  Competitions  in  standing  fields  of  seed  grain  were 
instituted  by  the  Branch  in  1906,  and  they  are  increasing 
in  popularity  and  value.  The  local  arrangements  are  made  by 
the  agricultural  societies  under  provincial  government  grants  ; 
the  Seed  Branch  provides  general  assistance  and  undertakes  the 
judging,  for  which  the  following  is  a usual  scale  of  points  : — 
General  appearance  ........  20 
Freedom  from  weeds  . . . . . . . .25 
Freedom  from  rust,  smut,  blight,  and  insects  . . .10 
Freedom  from  other  varieties  and  other  kinds  of  grain  . 20 
Apparent  yield  and  quality  of  grain 25 
Total 100 
Similar  assistance  is  given  towards  the  organisation  of  seed 
fairs  and  of  a large  seed  exhibition  held  annually  in  each 
province. 
The  Canadian  Seed  Growers’  Association,  which  has  grown 
into  national  proportions  from  modest  efforts  of  twelve  years 
ago,  when  Dr.  J.  W.  Robertson  and  Sir  William  Macdonald 
offered  prizes  to  children  for  selection  of  the  largest  heads  of 
grain  on  their  fathers’  farms,  is  now  in  receipt  of  an  annual 
grant  from  the  Department  of  $5,000  (1,027Z.).  Its  members 
engage  in  the  production  of  approved  varieties  of  seed  grain 
