NEw YORK AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 195 
visable to begin with seed as nearly free from dodder as can be 
conveniently obtained. If a sample of the seed has been examined 
at the Experiment Station the owner has been informed as to 
whether the dodder in it is of the small-seeded or large-seeded 
kind and he should manage the sifting accordingly. Occasionally, 
samples are found in which some of the dodder seeds are so large 
that they will no pass through the sieve. Fourteen cases of this 
kind were found among the 120 dodder-infested samples examined 
at the Station. Such seed should not be used. 
Since the farmer has no means of determining whether he is 
removing all of the dodder it is absolutely necessary for him to 
follow directions closely. Care should be taken to secure the 
right kind of sieve. In purchasing sieves or wire cloth for making 
sieves it should be seen to that they are actually 20 x 20 mesh. 
This may be determined by placing a rule on the sieve and count- 
ing the number of meshes to the inch. Also, the wire must not 
be coarse. The Station will furnish small samples of the proper 
kind of wire cloth free upon request. 
The quantity of siftings varies from one to five pounds pe. 
bushel according to the original cleanliness of the seed and the 
thoroughness of sifting. Besides dodder, various other small weed 
seeds, broken seeds and dirt, as well as some of the smaller alfalfa 
seeds, also pass through the sieve. Probably, most of the alfalfa 
seeds which pass through the sieve are somewhat inferior in qual- 
ity. Small, shriveled seeds are not likely to make as strong plants 
as are large plump seeds. However, it appears that the difference 
is not as great as might be supposed. Once, the writers put this to 
the test. Two lots of seed were thoroughly sifted according to 
the directions given above. Then the cleaned seed and screenings 
(with dodder removed) were sown side by side under parallel con- 
ditions. The experiment was continued only two years, but during 
this time there was no observable difference between the plats sown 
with cleaned seed and those sown with screenings. Still, it 1s 
believed that little if any real loss is sustained through the rejec- 
tion of the screenings. If the seed contained dodder the quantity 
of this pest in the screenings will probably be so great as to ruin 
the crop. Even when the seed has been analyzed and reported 
free from dodder it is generally advisable to sift it as an additional 
precaution. In such cases the screenings might be sown by them- 
selves in one corner of the field so that should dodder appear it 
could be stamped out with a minimum amount of loss. 
