Connecticut western news., 1909-09-30
NO. 15
VITALITY OF SEED

taken to get seed we'll adapted to the conditions of culture, it is still important to see that the seed is of good vitality and capable of producing strong, vigorous plants. Great waste of land and labor results every year from the use of seed of low vitality. As result of careful tests made by the Department of Agri- culture of over 5000 carefully selected ears of what was considered good stand ard seed corn, moro than half of the ears were found to be of low vitality and unfit for seed By testing individual ears and rejecting those of low vitality, an average gain in yield of nearly l4 per cent could be secured as a result of the better stand and better productive ness of strong plants,
 An analysis of 6l samples of low grade clover seed imported during the year ended June 30, 1906, showed the follow ing average composition:
 Red clover seed. ..........p. c. 74.o6
 Other seeds. p. O. l2 IF
 Dirt and brooken seeds D. c. 1888
 Live red clover seed in sam.
 pie. e.............,....p. c. 43. l6
 Price paid per 100 pounds s..... S7.6I
 Actual cost per 100 pounds, .,.
 based on percentage of,
 good seed. ed............... .S20.39
 More than 75 per cent of those samples contained dodder. Nearly 1,000,oo pounds of thIs poor seed were imported during the year mentioned. ..
 An analysis of high-grade samples showed the following average compost ton:
 Red clover seed. .........p. c. 9778
 Other seeds. ds....,....,.,..p c. .66
 Dirt and broken seods p. c. 1.42
 (Fiye kinds of weed seeds were
 found in the sample.)
 Live red clover seed in sam-
 pIe.......,.- p. c. 96.b6
 Price paid per 100 pounds. .Sl5.o5
 Actual cost per 100 pounds
 based on percentage of
 good seed. .........,....t.a Sl5.5S
 Similar results were secured with seed we'll of other forage crops and grasses.
 ADULTERATED SEED AND WEED SIZED
 Some of this poor seed is introduced 70 blend with good seed so that it can be sold at lower price. Somc of the worst weeds, like doddsr and Canada thistle, have been introduced and spread in this way. Some samples of imported seed have been secured containing as many as 80 different kinds of weed seeds. The loss from weeds and the cost of fighting them is great and is so we'll understood as to need no discussion.
 MusBRANDED sEED
 There are many varieties of vegetables and flowers that have seed SO nearly alike that even an expert can not tell chem apart. However, the crops they produce are at once distinguished in the markets. Not only the variety but also the locality in which it is grown ia very important. The western grown Rocky Ford muskmelon seed looks exactly like the sastern-grown seed of the Netted Gem muskmelon. from which the farmer orders Rocky Ford seed and gets Netted Gem, his crop will not bring the high price of Rocky Ford melons in che markets.
 Western-grown sweet corn seed pro- iuces crop of 20 to 10 per cent lower quality than eastern-grown seed. Still, much of the seed corn sold in eastern markets is western-grown seed sold as eastern-grown. The market gardener or farmer who buys it suffers correspond ing loss in the value of his crop. The same sort of substitution is often prao. ticed by dishonest seedsmeu with many kinds of vegetable seed, thus causing the farmer and the market gardener very great losses. The grower finds when he comes to harvest his crop that it is not what he contracted to supply and not what the market demands.