The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1912-12-21
Seed Testing Laboratory.

AS a man soWs, so shall he reap.
uuat are the farmers of Louisiana
sowing: The Louisiana branch seed
laboratory OF the United States De-
partment Of Agriculture has been
opened at Baton Rouge to aid farm
ers III determining the character of
the seed they are planting. For, no
matter how rich the soil, or how well
prepared the seed bed, if the seed
IS poor the results obtained are I'M
satisfactory. In this laboratory seeds
sent in by farmers and seed houses
are tested, free of charge, for purity
and termination.
Seeds may be poor in two respects;
first, in regard to purity, and, sec
ond, in regard to vitality. Seeds
may be of low purity because Of the
presence of weed seeds harvested
with the crop, because of inert mat
ter, or because of adulterants, and
cheap foreign seeds resembling the
pure seeds, used by INSCRIPTIONS
dealers. Seeds may be of low vitality
because of old age, because of imma-
turity when harvested, or because of
improper care in harvesting, curing
and storing. Often seedsmen mix
old seed with new to get rid of old
stock. Also seed may be wilfully or
innocently misbranded
Many farmers wonder just how the
report sent to them from the Expert
ment Station is obtained The gov
ernment seed analyst proceeds in
this way: A representative portion
of the seed sent in by the farmer is !
accurately weighed. This weighed
sample is then separated into three
portions, consisting of pure seed, in
ert matter, and foreign seed. The
pure seed is that true to name, the
inert matter consists of chaff, bulls,
leaves, stems, quartz and clay, and
the foreign seed is made up of the
weed seeds and those commercial
seeds not of the kind being tested.
For example, test is made
of lespedeza clover. The pure
seed consists of the lespedeza
the inert or empty hulls, stems,
leaves, dirt, insect castings, ana /
the foreign seeds of weeds such 1
as crab grass, foxtail, paspalum, dod-
der and others. All foreign seeds are
identified as far as possible. It
would mean something to the farmer
to know that 10 per cent Of his sam
pie was composed of foreign seeds,
but it means still more to know just
What these foreign seeds are, s per
cent may be crab grass, a weed, it
is true, but one considered by many
to improve the quality of the hay.
Or the per cent of foreign seeds may
be small, but among the weeds may
be those of the dodder, noxious
parasite, living on the lespedeza, hard
to eradicate, and eventually Destroy
ing the whole field. After this sepa-
ration and Identification the sample
is again weighed and the percentages
OF pure seed, inert matter and for
elgn= seed are calculated exactly.
From the pure seed a termination
test is made. Two counts of 100 or
200 seeds each, depending upon the
Kind OF sample, are terminated.
These tests last from five to ten j
lays for most seeds, but as long as
,Wenty-eight days for some Of the
grasses. The termination test shows L
what proportion of the pure seed
crows under laboratory conditions.
Did or Immature seeds reduce the
of vitality.
TON Inc purity ana germ1natlOn
eport the farmer can tell the value
# his seed. If sample tested so 8
'er cent pure and so per cent viable,
My so per cent of 80 per cent, or 40 {
Ter cent of that sample, is of value t
0 the farmer. 1t means that out of r
very 100 pounds of seed he pur- !
hased only 40 pounds are pure, via .
lie seeds He paid for 80 pounds :
hat are absolutely useless and often
armful to him
Samples are tested free of charge. I
hey should be sent to the Seed t
laboratory, Agricultural Experiment '
tation, Baton Rouge, La. In order e
lat representative samples may be a
btained, three or four tablespoons il
II OF seed should be sent when pur- =
y tests are desired, and not less ),
ian 800 to 400 seeds when germi- :
alton tests are wanted Since CON 2 :,
derable time is required for germi- u
alton, seeds should be sent to the o
alton as early as possible SO that II
le report may be in the hands of tt
In Farmer hhfnrn he IL