At the time that the Experiment S' ation Bulletin No. 59 was published, August— 
September, 1888, a.series of examinations of field seeds, mainly grass seed, had 
been made. The result was startling in the extreme, as the average value was only 
fifty-six per cent., one hundred per cent, expressing both absolute purity and 
absolute vitality. The Station refrained from making known the names of deal- 
„ ers who sold these seed, on the broad basis that the retail dealers might not them¬ 
selves have known the exact character of the seed they had on sale. It was speci¬ 
fied, however, that the farmer was the sufferer, and as the prime object of the 
Experiment Station was for the advancement of the State’s agriculture, the im¬ 
provement of the seed used was of the greatest necessity. 
In this present bulletin the work of seed examination has been extended to 
embrace all the more common garden seed found on sale. The result has been 
almost as decided as that recorded for field seeds. Although there have been 
found many varieties of seed, both pure and vital, yet some of the seed on sale 
show decided evidence of careless handling, in that they were old, musty, and 
stale. If certain classes of seed are not vital after a year’s keeping, then the 
farmer and seed merchant certainly should become acquainted with the fact. 
The Station refrains now from publishing, as before, the names of dealers from 
whom the seed were purchased, for the reason, that possibly those who sold the 
worthless seed were not aware of the fact, or that they were ignorant of the 
property that these seed possess of becoming worthless when old. In the future, 
seed merchants must not expect such forbearance. 
A single extract from a paper read by Mr. J. E. Northrup, of Minneapolis, 
before the Minnesota State Horticultural Society, will show what deception, some 
seed-houses adopt, and the consequent care which ought to be taken to prevent 
such practice from becoming wide-spread: 
“ In walking through a large seed warehouse some time since, I detected the 
odor of burning brimstone, and my curiosity was aroused as to what pfert brim¬ 
stone could play in the fitting of seed for market. Making some pretext for visit¬ 
ing that portion of the building from whence the fumes proceeded, 1 came to 
some cucumber seed, which was being Bleached to remove the yellow tint with 
which age had mellowed it. The tags on the bags indicated that it had been in 
that building over twenty years, and how much longer no one knows.” 
In the preparation of seed, then, for the market, adulteration and deception 
must be guarded against, as much so as in other mercantile professions. 
H. B. BATTLE, Director. 
