J 
372 Annual Report for 1913 of the Botanist. 
Lime 
Soot 
Waters 
Soils 
Roots 
Milk, cream, and butter 
Hoofs and Horns 
Rape cake manure . 
Sewage sludge . 
Miscellaneous . 
Stuart House, 
1 Tudor Street, 
London, E.C. 
5 
5 
67 
31 
2 
23 
3 
2 
1 
18 
Total .... 410 
J. Augustus Yoelcker. 
ANNUAL REPORT FOR 1913 OF THE 
BOTANIST. 
Seed-testing. 
The examination and testing of agricultural seeds has, as 
usual, formed a considerable portion of the work undertaken 
in the Botanical Department. Complete analyses involving 
details of the nature apd amount of impurities present as well 
as the germinating capacity were made on 196 samples, whilst 
partial analyses involving a germinating te$t only, or tests for 
the presence of dodder or comparisons of bulk with samples, 
were made on 74 samples. 
The seeds, as a whole, hardly reached the high standard of 
the past two years, the falling off being due in the main to the 
bad harvest conditions of the previous season. If allowance is 
made for this there was little to complain of in the majority of 
the samples tested since the germinating capacity was only 
slightly impaired. The red clovers, sainfoin, and mangold seem 
to have suffered most. Some exceptionally bad samples, 
presumably of very old seed, were sent in for analysis. 
Four lots of seed sold as English red clover were found to 
contain seeds of Chilian dodder, which may be taken as an 
indication that a part, if not the whole, of the seed was not 
grown in this country. One of the worst samples I have yet 
seen was sent from Datchet. It contained 10 per cent, by 
weight of lumps of soil, grains of wheat, barley and rye-grass, 
the excreta of mice and various weed seeds. The seed itself 
was shrivelled, and of that dull foxy-brown colour usually 
associated with clover seed several years old. Two sets of 
