New Iberia enterprise and independent observer. (New Iberia, La.) 1902-1944, 1913-01-04
EED-TESTING LABORATORY

AS man SOWS, SO snail ne
reap. What are the farmers of
Louisiana sowing? The Louisi-
ana branch seed laboratory Of the
United States Department OF
Agric ulture has been opened at
Baton Rouge to aid farmers in
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 unsatisfactory. In this lab
oratory seeds sent in by farmers
and seed houses are tested, free
Of charge, for purity and germ
nation. 49, a !
Seeds may be poor in two re-
spec'ts- first, in regard to purity,
and, second, in regard to vital
ity. Seeds may he Of low purity
because of the presence of weed
seeds harvested with the crop,
cause Of inert matter, or because
of adulterants, and cheap foreign
seeds resembling the pure seeds,
used by INSCRIPTIONS dealers.
Seeds may be of low vitality be-
cause of old age, because Of i'm
maturity when harvested, or be-
cause of improper care in hardest
ing, curing, and storing. Often
! seedsmen mix old seed with new
to get rid of old stock. Also
seed may be wilfully or innocent
| ly misbranded.
Many farmers wonder just how
the report sent to them from the
Experiment Station is obtained.
The government seed analyst
proceeds in this way: repre-
sentative portion of the seed sent
in by the farmer is accurately
weighed. This weighed sample
is then separated into three por
tiOns, consisting Of pure seed,
inert matter, and foreign seed.
The pure seed is that true to
name, the inert matter consists
of chaff, hulls, leaves, stems,
! quartz, and clap, 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 lespc-
deza clover. The pure sed con-
! sists of the lespedepa, the inert
of empty hulls, stems, leaves, dirt,
insect castings, and the foreign
seeds of weeds such as crab grass
foxtail, paspalum, dodder and
others. All foreign seeds are
identified as far as possible. 1t
would mean something to the far
mer to know that 10 per cent Of
his sample was compose dof for
eign seeds, but it means still more
to know just what these foreign
seeds are; 8 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, a noxious
parasite, living On the lespedeza,
hard to eradicate, and eventually
destroying the whole field. After
this separation and notification
the sample is again weighed and
the percentages of pure seed inert
matter, and foreign seed are cal
culated exactly.
From the pure seed a germina-
ton 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 days for most
seeds, but as long as twenty eight
days for some of the grasses. The
termination test shows what pro-
portion Of the pure seed grows
under laboratory conditions. Old
or immature seeds reduce the
percentage of vitality.
From the purity and germina-
ton report the farmer can tell
the value 70 his seed. If a sam-
pie tested 50 per cent pure and
so per cent viable, only so per
cent of 80 per cent, or 40 per cent
Of that sample, is of value to the
farmer. It means that out of ev-
cry 100 pounds fseed he pur-
chased only 40 pounds are pure,
viable seeds. He paid for 60,
pounds that are absolutely use
less and often harmful ito him.
Samples are tested free Of
charge. They should be sent to
the Seed Laboratory Agricultural
Experiment Station, Baton Rouge,
Louisiana. In order that repre-
sentative samples may be OBJ
tanned, three or four tablespoons
,ul of seed should be sent when
purity tests are desired, and not
ess than 300 to 400 seeds when 5
termination tests are wanted.
Since considerable time is re-
Iuired for termination, seeds {
hould be sent to the Station as
arly as possible so that the report '
nay be in the hands Of the farmer