The Belding banner-news., 1922-01-25
DEPARTMENT WARNS
AGAINST USE Of
FOREIGN SEEDS
HOME GROWN SEEDS STILL
HELD TO BE BEST FOR
AMERICAN FARMER
FURNISHED by A. E. Dorr)

=
Farmers who purchase clover seed
should demand information as to the
place of growth of the seed they sow
Those in the Corn Belt States es-
pecially north of the Ohio river,
should use American-grown seed
whenever possible. There is little
information at present regarding the
adaptability to American conditions
of red clover seed from any foreign
under way by the United States De-
partment of Agriculture include seed
from Chile, Bohemia and France as
well as Italy, and will be reported in
due time
Whether seed from southern Eu-
rope will prove satisfactory in cer-
tain sections of this country must
be felt for further determination.
but for the Mi die West seed frosn
southern Europe is not to be advis-
ed While the plants from such seed
may survive some winters, the far
mer knowingly who uses such seed
is gambling with she futute pre-
ductivity of his So. as well as with
his forage supply.
Statements have recently been
made to the seed trade by dealers to
the effect that the department re-
CARDS the question of the argonomic
value of Italian clover seed is still
undetermined. Such statements are
evidently due to misapprehension as
to the position of the department,
which, on the basis of ex:sting in
formation, advises against the in
discriminate use of Italian seed, es-
pecially in the Corn Belt States.
On account of the apparently in
creasing difficulty experienced by
farmers in securing and maintaining
their clover stands in recent years,
/ specialists of the department began
! studying the behavior of plants
grown from imported clover seed
some time ago, and in 1916 tr ais of
Italian red clover seed, in compari-
/ son with that of American origin,
were commences. These trials were
carried on in cooperation with ex-
pertinent stations or with private in
/ dividuals in various states, and re-
ports were received from or person
al inspection was made of, trials in
Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Mime,
sofa, and Tennessee.
In Tennessee all the paintings
! failed because of unusually bad con-
dtions. In the other states the Ital-
ian clover killed out in some places
but not in others. For example, at
Kalamazoo, the stand was nearly
all killed. while at Menominee, in the
upper peninsula. under heavy
blanket of snow, all the plants came
through equally well. In some cas-
| es the Italian plants were badly at
tackled by a summer disease, which
did not injure the plants from Amer
lean seed. This was the case at
Grand Rapids, Mich, Madison, Wis,
and in Ohio.
The entry of the United States
into the war interrupted this work,
but it was taken up again in 1920,
when seed of Italian and American
grown was sown OF three stations in
Wisconsin, and at Lafayette, Ind,
Grand Rapids, Mich, in Tennessee,
Idaho, Washington and Oregon. The
reports in the spring of 1921 showed
that at Ashland, Wis, 90 per cent of
the Italian clover had been winter
killed, and at Spooner, Wis, all had
wnterkilled while the American
plants suffered little injury. At
Marshfield. Wis, the Italian plant
was completely winterkilled. while
the American plants suffered so to
60 per cent injury. In Indiana the
Italian plants were completely win
terkilled. while the American plants
did not suffer. At Grand Rapids,
Mich, there were not over 10 per
cent of the plants left on the plats
seeded to Italian seed, while those
seeded to Amrican seed had lost
from Is to so per cent of the plants
estimated to have been on the plats
in the fall of 1920.
In Idaho, Washington, and Oregon
the Italian plants did not suffer from
cold, nor were they notably diseased
Continued on page fve)