The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1914-09-02
CLEAN CLOVER
SEFO BEFORE
PLANTING It.
Farmers Lose Money by Not
Testing All Seed Thor
oughly for Plantain and
BuckthOrn.

tne clover crop Vi 1o1o' A. |ho A"AAA
ers wish to make the crop of hay and
seed for the year of 1916 the best
they ever produced, let them begin
now.
Every year a great deal OF clover
seed is harvested, the crop for Wayne
county last year being 4,3OS bushels,
according to the township assessors
reports. Much of this seed Is sold to
neighboring farmers right from the
huller, the owner saves some for his
own use, ana>the rest is thrown on the
open market. In this manner the crop
Of seed from one farm is often distrib-
uted over quite large territory. NOT
enough seed is produced locally to
meet the demand, and dealers each
year import seed from other states.
Along with the clover seed as 1t
comes from the huller, come countless
numbers of foreign seed, buckhorn.
plantain, red sorrel, ragweed, foxtail,
and hundred other weed pests. The
farmer that buys the seed direct from
the machine gets it at low price,
which eventually becomes high
number of weed seed that such sam
pie may contain.
Finds Weed Seed.
In the fall of 1913 a sample of red
clover seed was handed in to the
local county agents office to be test
ed for purity and termination. The
sample was taken from seed for which
local farmer paid $40 bushel, at
the machine, because he had seen the
crop produced and thought it was
clean and free from weeds.
The county agent had the seed test
ed by one of the governments eX-
perts, and the report showed purely
percentage of 90 per c~nt, and that
each pound of clover seed contained
46, 500 weed seed, 10000 of which
were buckhCrn. Sowing this seed a.
the rate of eight pounds to the acre,
1900 weed seed would be sown to
the square rod. The report showed
further that only SO per cent of the
clover terminated in a six-day test.
For his ten dollars invested the
farmer received $3.50 worth of clover
seed that would grow and $40 worth
&C weed seed and clover seed that
would not grow. In short, he put the
cart before the horse when he waited
rntil after purchasing the seed be-
f~rn having It tested. AS result he
lr"rned that he could not trust his
own eyes to determine the amount of
weed seed. Later on he also learned
that for the same price he could have
purchased guaranteed seed, testing 90
per cent pure and Of high termination.
Runs Through Cleaner.
As another instance of the unreli,
ability of the eve in the detection Of
foreign material in small seeds, a pro-
gressive farmer of the same cOmmuni-
~ persuaded a neighbor to bring over
three bushels of clover seed which he
intended to SOW, lust as it came from
the machine. and run it through a
small cleaner. The farmer, after some
urging, complied with the request al
though he declared it would be a
waste of time. as he knew the seed
was clean. The first time the seed
was run through the cleaner the three
bushels yielded twenty-three pounds
Of black plantain seed The farmer
was astounded at the result, and then
and there declared that he would
never SOW any more clover seed with
out having It carefully tested
No farmer is justified in buvinc
seed direct from the machine and
So"lIS IL III HIS lleluS W1fnOut hAV-
ing II carefully cleaned For the farm
er who annually sows a large acreage
Of clover, small clover seed cleaner
Is one OF the most economical invest.
ments he can make.
Need Better Seed.
Neither must the importance of hay.
ing the seed tested for termination he
under estimated. The average rate Of
seeding is eight pounds per acre. at
which rate fifty seeds are sown per
square foot. If it were known that
the seed sown was all germinable, the
farmer would be justified in sowine
less seed to the acre, provided that
soil and weather conditions were such
that the seed would be given a fai,
chance to grow
Nothing could be more beneficial tC
community than the Inauguration o.
better clover seed" campaign il
each farming district. Public clean
ing Of an average sample of seet
would, in itself. win many converts
Several cleaners, located at convent
ent points, could do the work for the
entire community. The early winter
months. when many farmers are SUP
posed to be spending their time Wis
iting their wives relations, provide
good season for this kind of work
Seed dealers should also be appeal
ed to, to handle only good seed thai
they can recommend to be pure and O.
strong termination. AS soon as one
dealer can be persuaded to realize the
advantage in handling seed Of thi:
kind. his trade among the best farmers
of the community will begin to grow
and in time the other dealers of the
community will be found falling ir
line.
Careless selection of clover ans
small grass seeds has undoubtedly re
suited in the spreading of many Of
the most pernicious weeds found or
our farms. and any united effort or
the part of several farmers will be OF
material assistance in Kidding the
farms Of these pests