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Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reprodult en un seul clich*. 11 est film* A partir de Tangle suptrieu- gauche, de gauche k drolte, et de heut en baa, on prenant le nombre d'images nicessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mithode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 MICROCOrV tCSOlUTION TEST CHART (ANSI ond ISO TEST CHART No 21 1.0 I.I ■ 2.8 Hi 1^ 1^ |2.0 1^ mi \'^5 ijiliu _^ >1PPLIED IIVMGE Inc S^ '^^5 tost Main Sf'Mt 5^S Roct^eslpf, New vo'*. 14609 uSA "■«Sa (716) i«2 - 0300 - Phof>« aaa (7!6) .sa - 5989 - Fax ^ DOMINION O F ( A N A I) A DEPARTMENT OF AOltlCULTURB BRANCH OF THE SEED COMMISSIONER SUMMARY OF ILLlSTKATED LKCTURKS ^ ox . SEED GRAIN CONDITIONS OF THE SEED TUADE, WEEDS AND WEED SEED IMPURITIES IN COMMERCIAL GRAINS, GIVEN AT FARMERS' MEETINGS IN THE PROVINCES OF MANITOBA, SASKATCHEA/AN AND ALBERTA liY OEOBOE H. CLARK Seed Commiait'wiier 631.531 • C212 OTTAWA OOVEBNMENT PRINTING BUREAU 1905 SEED OF CEREA.L ORi^INS ITS FUNCTION IN THE LIFE OF THE PIANT. More than five aiid a quarter million acres of land in Manitoba, Sa^tkalohewan •nd Alberta will probably be sown to whoat, oats and barley during tho coming spring months. The cxpcnso of preparing this land for the «eed is practically tha game, •whether good or inferior seed is us«d, and the harvesting of tho crop, bo it largo or small, is nearly the same. The value of tho seed on an acre of land is small and tho Jiflercnce in value between tho best obtainable seed and seed of indifferent quality becomes insignificant when compaivd with tho other expenses. It will therefore be seen that, while other expenses may remain practically the same, an increase of fifty cents per acre on account of iising seed of superior quality may easily mean a tenfold increase in the net profits from the crop. BOTATIOH OF CROPS. The kinds of farm crop that are best to grow in any district will, of course, depend very largely on the market demand for the output. The growing of cereal grains from year to year is a practice that does not provide suitable oppor' ' 'ics for combatting wpoils, and iiiaoct and funjrous posts. By alternating crops of ,f. at, oats and barli^y with such crops as field roots, pease, grasses and clovers, where th / can bo grown to advantage in rotation with smaller grains, much can be done to eradicate weeds and thus do away — in districts where soil moisture is not of first importance — with tho necessity of summer fallowing every three or four years, which is really an expcnpive though much r.eeJcd process for destroying weeds on farms wlicre a system of rotation '■•i not practised. VARIETY. It is of first importance that the variety of wheat, oats or barley, that is crown, be of good commercial value and well suited to the climate and particular soil on which it is used. To get reliable information as to the be-st variety in use, it is well t( tudy the results obtained by neipthbouring farmers, to look to the reports from the nearest experiment station.*, and, where care is taken to koop varieties separate, it may be advisable to do a little ay.^tomatic tc^tinj? of varieties on the land where they are wanted for use. A visit to experimental farm; at Indian Head, Brandon or elsewhere when tha grain on the test plots is nearinir maturity, affords an oxccllcnt opportunity to study the desirable and undesirable qualities of tlio various varieties, between many of which there are wide differences in the quality of grain, length and stronprth of straw, sus- ceptibility to rust, earliness, and in the ability of the variety to give a hrgo yield per acre. DIFFKRENCES BETWEEV STRAINS OF SEED OF THE SAME VARIETY. Nature intended that the energies of all plants be bent on the production of seed or other reproductive organs that will carry tho life of tlu- plant over to the next gen- 3 •III 1. iliirr"-* iiirtlic.iU iiiui'li to In- own n .hal il- our prain oro,« .lo «<.t r.^-ivo rca^>nal.« car. u, . .■■ nrntt^-r ot . iv ati . .uwl ^, l..,tion th..y aUo will be-o.no ' run out' and lc«. profitable. lU- ...l.vtiuK the b...t from tho k-.t fn,„. Bonoration to Koncrat.on. tho su«ar beet has ... i n ovod until th. su.ur .-ontont ha« l.:-n is..l fron. 1. to 1.. 1« r .vnt V" „ i , Fra.u-0, ...mn...n....d th- work of .ol.H.tiuK sugar boet. thr.H, Ken-r.t.on, Lo e selooU. firs, tho s„irar boets of th.- d.-Mrod typ.- and fron, th-'Ho ho cut out a nudl L" an dc. .rn.i.u.d .hoir .K^roontap. of su.ar. On hi. bn.d.nB plot he traus- ;Z't' .d and «avo.l ^od only fron. tlu,s,. nu.th.r l-n-ts wlueh eonta.nod a »u«h .xToent- '"" VihSIn also connn..u.-..d to .row a.ni -;.l....t wild carrot, -venty-four year* ago Wo have reaiH.d large bcnetit. from his sk.il ... the im,.rov.....o..t of our •"'t'Y'f > 1 r t which is now nuito largely .rown all over Canada a. a -I'-'^^'Vl'tttv di' ' We also have with us the original wild carrot, which .s a < ..n...on wocl .n ..,...,> d.s *''"';.|"tl"g of m■^ Prof. Zavlt. of the O..tario Agncul.ural Colleg.s (iueiph ...„.„ „,K,..., ,he work of selection of seed with a vari.ty ot ->t^ ^..ow.. .,s Joa.. o Wack.' A .luantity of largo, plu.np. black oats a..d an .-i-u. """'''^■••, " °?', ^^^ liuhter in wc-ight an'l 1. the farm. Kach of these two selectio..s we.v sown on p .ts that were um.- form ,. < ."li y and size. Sel,.clio..s were nu.de i.. each of the folow.ng years from h ^roduLt of each of the two .lots of the precedi..g .vear. That .s. large "^-^-V-^^^ oats and the oats that were lighter in weight and l.ghter ...colour were . ted f r>.n the crop produced fron. similar seed the previous year. Tl... sele,.t,on of the arge p lumTkern..! year after year ,nade for the grad..« i.nprove.nn.t ... lu. >.e^l and qualiy of the crop, while the influence from the selection of the ker..els that ;u.e Sir in weight and lighter in colour tendcxl in the oppos.te d.reet.on. At the end of twelve yea^ there was a difference of twct.ty-six bushels per acre .n favour of the crop fmnlthe large, plump seed, which ako weigln^l ten and a half ,|ou..ds ,R'r n.easun.l S -1 mol: £n the grai.. produced from the lighter se-ed. Here .nd.H.d .s an ,11 us ra- tio,, of the ditference there may be between two stra...s of seed of the >a.. e ^ar.ety Tlu. -ce.l of lied Fife wheat a,ul Banner oats growi. by Mes-rs. A. .Maekay. )t Indian Head, a.al S. A. Bedford, of Brandon, has the capacity to g.ve a much larger dd of Krai, than the seed of the same varieties that s sown on the average of far,.,s .wester,. Canada. The strains of seed grain of var.e....s that were obta.,.ed te.. or Iweu'- years ago are much improved to-day to what they were when first sown o,, tho ex,x;ri,ncntal farms. . i • Much more evidence could be given to show that the farmers ,n the gra... grow,..g .listricts in the west may adopt practical means by wh.ch they can ,ncre..se the y.el. nd irnprove the quality of their crops of wheat oats and barley: and that w.thout prop^rcare in the growing and selecting of se« the y.eld and qual.ty of cereal gra.ns will depreciate from year to year. One other illustrat.on. however, .nay suffice. ■ The State Department of Agriculture for Illinois co-operated with some of the leading com growers in the formation of a Corn Brecnlers' Assoe.at.on The men.bers ofS Corn Breeder' Ai»ociation keep accurate records of the y.eld ot cor.. ,ro,.. iir breeding plots or sn.all fields, on which they do the work of spec.a! seleet.on ,u onlcr to get (tfxx! tevii for the rot of their farm*. The state authorities tlo tlic work of exurnininii wKctctl uend to dotermine ita gluten content, the object, in tome coimh, W- '.Ag to lirrf^l up a atrain of con* having a prenter feeding value. The work has b««'n carried «i\ now for four years, with tho resuU that the gluten cmitent of tlio oorn has been inerrflst'd by 25 per cent, and an increuso ff 50 per cent in ritlil oi Rhellcd mrn per acre hn« been mndo by mniiy of the meuibcrt who have i rriinl on the work KVittematicnllA TlIK NATIIIK AMI KtycTK'N •>t > 1 UC.M. SKKUS. Ulluntraled hy gram of u-hi'it.) A keriul of wlirat, o:it.-i or barley contains u living germ or ciubryo surrounded by a suiiply of fouil in tlie fonn of :.tarcli ami gluten. In tlic ripened grain this em- bryo plant will lie ilnrniant for several yeurs^. Wheat rich in gluten se«'iiiH to retain its vitality nnich longi r than that of soft starchy sort;). If kept in a d and is gradually li(pu'fied ami absorbed by tiio young plant. From a grain of wheat, oats or barley the primary root tir.-t nppea^^ next • J leaf and then two additional or secondary roots. Numerous fine hairs are developed on the newly fonned roots and thise come more closely into con, act with the minute partick- of soi' from which '.hey extract moisture, thus obtaining from the soil such plant foo. as may have been dissolved by the moisture or by the acid secreted by the root hairs. TEMrERATlRK. The writer has been able to get a few kernels of hard wheat to germinate on melt- ing ice, but it may be said that 40° F. is the lowest temperature at which wheat will germinate. A temperature ranging from 68° to 8C° F. is the most favourable for a rapid and healthy growth of cereal grainR. At lower temperatures the embryo plant It \rm» M'i'wc hihI tlw itnrch i.ml ntli.-r f.xvl in tlu' «raiii i* Iom rapidly ciuingoi Into liqiiiii I'oriii. i>i;vi:LorMi:NT or tub volno pi.*st. The teni|K>raturu nt whifh ni-rmiiiation and the oarly growth of the young plant lok«i pliK'o mntcriolly iiiflurnio* ihi< dcvolopiucnt of tlw plant. A continued low Kuu- pcnitufi- s8 all of the apace he at first taken up luvauso of thick seeding If only a moderate amount of seed bo u«t| and the process of stooling bo cheeked on account of ciccFaivo cold, poor aefd or lato seeding, the waste space ia usually occupied by a later growth of wecda and other hardy indigenous plants. It will bo seen then that if good strong seed be early aown on a well cultivated and fertile soil, a limited amount of teed will Buffice and a thick stand of planta and a heavy crop may l)e had from very thin aeeding. provided that tho oomlitions for early growth be favourable, ^ne buahel and a half per acre of ' No. 1 hard ' Red Fife wheat would provide about 44 aeeda per square foot of land. If two bu.shels per acre \>c sown, each square foot of land ahould receive on an average TA graina. MlorOKTION OF SOirSD AND Pl.t MP SEKD TO SHRIVKEX SEED IN V.\RI0V9 STANDARD flRADES. For tho purpos:- of comparing the relative proportion* of sound plump seed, repro- aoiitativo samples of wlicat. from .staniLird graik- loU of ' No. 1 Northern.' ' No. S Northern,' ' No. 4 " and ' Feed ' were obtained from the Chief Ini^ioetor of Grain at Winnvjieg through the courtesy of Mr. David Horn. Kueh of these standard samples v.cre uniformly s«-iiarate!if::ii w-.u-h light/^r in weight, are fed throush airrain ■ecder in operation in only a sliglitly greater proportion by number. A seeder gauged to tow one buthcl and a huli per acre »Kauli{ mw from •'» to 100 pound' of tha •tandard Rrade 'No. 1 Northern'; 00 to 96 pound* of 'No. 3 Northern'; t»3 to 00 |hiuiii!r of ' No. 4,' or 80 to H.'l poun0 .'> ^ »1 . 1 Since the development of the young plant from the weaker seed is retarded by adverse weather conditions to a far greater extent than that from the strong seed, no tixed rule will apply .is to the additional amount of the poorer seed that should l»e ii^ed in order to obtain a stan-i oqiiivaVtit to that pr-'rflucc-d frc-m the better seeil. Should climatic conditions, at any time, make it necessary to use seed grain that is frozen or shrunken — especially with oats or barley — one hundred average grains should be counted out and tested for vitality. An allowance may then bo made for the uon- vital seed, so that the pure living seed sown will be equivalent in weight to the amount o{ sound, plump seed, wliieh is usually sown in the average season. A close observation of any field of wheat r jwn from shrunken seed — although the general appearance of the crop may be good — will usually show the presence of many \*ciikly plantd with but a single stem that is shorter than the average and bearing a short head containing from 25 to 40 grains. A cri>p of this kind may give good returns for milling purposes, but the effect of using soed year after year fro;a euch crops makes for deterioration in the vigour of the crop as a whole and materially re- duces the productive capacity of the seed. To illustrato more clearly the differences in vigour between the plants of wheat grown from grain produced from largo plump seed and those from shrunken seed, one liundred kernels from each were selected by hand from the grades supplied by !Mr. David Horn and plantod in rich black loam and also in sand. The photo here- with ropnxluwHl shows the growth from different lots at three wci'ks. Plate II. PRACTH'AI, MKTIIODS OF CiROWI.NO ANO SKI.KCTINC SKKD ORAIX. Although too much cannot be said regarding the importance of using good sound grain for seed purposes, equal recognition should be given to the selection of largo, early maturing heads from vigorous plants as a practical means to keep the crop true to a desirable variety and to eliminate the weakly and less productive plants which result, from the natural process of deterioration. On a large grain farm r would not be practicable to undertake to select large heads of wheat, oats or barley to get good seed to sow more than. i)crhaps, an acre of clean land. That would require about 100 pounds of well ripened heads, and e.xperienee has shown that one man would re(iuire nearly two days to select that amount by hand from a field of standing grain. No system of growing and selecting seed grain as a means to bring about improve- ment in both yield and qtmlity, however good, would be complete uidess selection were also applied to the plant itself. In this respect the fundamental princii)les are similar to those adopted in the improvement of poultry, in the process of which more attention is given to the selection of the birds themselves than to the selection of eggs of certain size and form. In the improvement of the sugar beet, the carrot, tin- cotton plant, Indian corn and other crops that are grown in an extensive way, those fundamental principles of selection were recognized and practical methwls were devised to apply, them. The plan recommended for adoption in the selection of cereal grains — wheat, oats and barley — is simple and quite practicable to the average grain grower. To commence with, a small supply of the best obtainable seed should be secured and sown on clean land, new land or good summer-fallow preferred. Such a plot of the best and cleanest land should be provide d every year, and used as a ba.se of .-upply on which to grow pure se-ed of the best variety. In order to keep the jiroduct of the breeding plot pure, extra care is required to avoid having the grain mixed at time of threshing or while in stor- age, but the increased value to the whole crop will many times repay for the special attention that is n(>eded to keep the base of supply unadulterated. With such a plot of land provided every year, the selection of large early ripening heads could be adopted to good advantage and would give handsome returns in the Bucceeding crops on the farm. Tlie gathering of large heads can best be done in the field when the crop has just reached maturity, but may be done from the sheaves at any time before thr(>shing. The crop on the seed plot shoidd always be left until fully ripened before being cut. Much benefit would result if the selection of the best doveloiKd heads of grain wore made every two or three years only. In addition to eliminating undesirable foreign varieties, this plan woidd go far toward discarding the less vigorous individual plants. It would be much more effective, however, to have the work of band-selection carried on from year to year without interruption. [I'lati- I.] II. lant showing development of rcKit-hairs. A. Section through centre of plant n. (enlarRed). 'I. Wheat plant sliowinff several stiilks (stools) from asinKli' seed. '.. Section tliroiijih part of leaves, .stem an-4-»-i.i&^ ■*^*** ^♦Ua a-Tij^ Y^ I I • The Ciuiatlinn Scfil Growers' Association keojw rcoords of niul issues ecrtifii-iitca of rcKistration for upjiroved sceve taken up the work during the last two years. During the years VMM). 1001 and 1902, one hundred of the best heads from every seed plot in Cannda were sent to Ottawa for examination. The yield iht acre of threshed and cleaned seed grain from the seed plots was also reported during the same period. The following table shows ' '^ average for all provinces of the number of grains per head and the yield per ac- >f wheat and outs as shown by reports receive '. from those who commcn'^ed the wor.v .n 19(K) and continued throughout the three yei.rs : — SPHIXU WHEAT. Average Avt-ragu numlier of grains wtiglit of grain jitr head. \H-t 100 hfads. litOO.. lOOl.. i'.xa.. 42 9 4C 9 51 GruiitH 112 y 162 G 1S3 3 Average yield per acre. Bii>li. 25 3^ 30 35 4. OAl ■"5, ICOO.... 116 9 121" 140 ;, laoi.. . 11)02 ■ ■> I 301 ti 343 3 385 D 54 08 .VJ 44 73 72 In carrying out the vork of hand selecting large heads of wh< at, sy ^ care must lie taken when mixtures of undesirable foreign varieties, that are e terized by having extra largo heads, arc jjrcscnt. For instance, should White TJu.^.- ..n wheat bo mixed with Ked Fife it would become necessary to h. id-pick the threshed grain be- fore being sown on tho seed plot, iu order to eliminate the former variety. TREATMENT OF SEED CiRAlS FOR SMLT. Both t'lic loose smut and bunt of wheat can be prevented to a great extent by fol- lowing the system of grov.'ing and selecting seed.s adopted by the Canadian Seed Growers' Association. The danger from smut infection in the breeding plot or base of supply IS reduced to a minimum of loosr smut and is almost eliminated in the case of bunt. The reports of members of the association in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, who are growing seed wheat, show that the greneral farm crop produced from the same strain of seea is particularly free from bunt. When bunt or loose smut is present in wlie- , oats or barley to be used for seed, much can be done to remove it by thorough cleaning with a fanning mill. Such seed, however, should always be tveated in a way to effectively destroy any smut spores that may be lodged iu oreascs of the grain. 10 The bluestiine (copper -"ulphato) treatment has proved to ba aa effective remedy for bunt in wheat. Afu>r niaUiiig exhaustive tests with various treatments for amut, with solutions of iron sulpl'^'te, copper sulphate and agricultural blucstone. Prof. Frank 'J", Shutt, chouiist, Experii leutal Farm, Ottawa, obicr res that tho results ■ his ex- periments 'soemwl to in'iieato that none of the solutions tried are etficacious in pre- venting the developHK-nt of loose smut.' His observations of the effect of such treat- ments on the vitality of the seed, is suinmarizotl as follows : — ' 1. Thnt the copprr sulphate, used alone or with iron sulphate (as in agricultural Lhic^toni') lowers the iM^rccntage of vital.'ty, corroborating previous results. •2. That the subsffiiiPiit immersion in lime-water of wheat treated with copper solution lessens the injurious cfforc of the latter up(m the vitality of the germ. ^. Thnt tlfa iron sulphate, as in proviou^ exp-^riments, as a rule das? not affect the vitality of the wheat 4. The differences Ix'twtvn the wheats ' thoroufrhly sprinkled' and 'immersed for live minutes' are such that we m»y consider tha« m3th).ls as equivalent, as regards effect upon the vitality. The reports (of plot tests with seed wheat treated as above by Prof. Shutt) re- ceived from tlwj Brandon and Indian Head Farms may be summarized in the follow- ing sentences: — 1. That sulphate of iron is not efficacious in destroying smut spores. 2. That the sulphate of copiwr treatment is the most effective of all experimented with, in preventing the development of smut. 3. That agricultural bluestone occupies, usually, a position between those two salts in reducing the amount of smut. 4. That the subsequent immersion in lime-water of seed treated with solutions of copper sulphate and agricultural bluestone, lesions the effect of these compounds as smut preventives, and is n! grain and afterwards mixing the bulk thoroughly so that all the grains be well moistened by the solution, it is thought advisable to make the solution somewhat stronger, probably one pound C.ibout one pint of formaline — 40 per cent solution of formaldehyde) to twenty-fiv«> gallons of water would give satisfactory results if the seed be well mixed after .-sprinkling. Solutions considerably stroii^i.T than this have been used and are some- limes recommeudv'd. Nine ounces of formaline to ten gallons of water — about ouo piiH of the liquid to ISJ gallons of water— would seem to have the effect of appre- ciably lowering the percentage vitality of the seed and in reducing the vital energy of tnc young plant. In tiiis respci t the iiillucnce ni formaline 's not dissimilar to- that ot bluestone, and it should be remenilxred that the stronger the solution in either case the gr^«('d, and therefore a larger amount of seed thus treat<>d .should l-c usj'd. After treatment with either bluestone or formaline, it is well to have the aced dried and sown as early as iwssiblo. Allowance should always be made for the ewollen condition of the sd. 11 anipk>8 showing their orijiiii. the i; mx- and address of the seller and the price charged to farmer. Tho fol- lowi.iHr tiiMe ^-ivcs u summary of t..p n^ultg of the analyses of a few representative .■samples tlint were examined in the Svt-i] i .iboratory ft Ottawa: IlKM ITS 01- SKK» IXVKSTU;\,IOS, ItHt.-.. MAMToBV. .v\SK.\r( IIKWAN AM) AIBKIITA. I.;il)iir- aiciry tc«t iiitiiilirr. i Kiiiil iif .>*«'cil. I 1202 IIHO lir.H 124.5 1203 1175 12;!7 1200 1157 1073 ll*.' 1159 1201 1174 1072 1043 1155 1204 1161 1156 iOat-... P.T cent ''•;'•'•'•"/! riacpwliiicbi.iiKht.' an.l ^"'^^ i narlcv Hiingiiri.tntirui* Millet R. Clover.. . . Alfalfa Alaike II Tir.otliy Rye Orad Brunitis Int'Diis. Brome Gram . . . ilJeWinton, Alta..., i KlIinlKtro' Sas^i 'Ciillx>rt Plnin», Man. ip Winton, Alta. .. Oxbow, tSaxk Alameda, .Sa»k lie Winton, Alta . . . •'itirling, Alta !SMl Brook, Sask... I I)e Winton, AlU lUilbert Plains, Man. !l)e Winton. Alta lOxliow, Sask. IShell Brook, Sask... ! KUislioro', Sask Stirling, Alta De Winton. Alta.... liilbert Plains, Man. Stirlin(», Alta deeti. 07 !)4 !»7(i« «!3H'J 49 40 95 94 7!) 30 91 l!4 89 ^fi 55 I. 82h»i hH 43 79 H9 H7-39 85 15 91 96 87 17 89 23 7(> 65 5f r bush. 810 5,580 2;5c. per lb.... 28c. |HT lb ... 1,980 1.5c 27c 8,100 20c. „ .... 1 24c 450 iV i2.Sc. „ .... 1,.575 J4 |)er bush . . . 35 |)er bush... 15,300 . c [ler 11) Sc. i>er lb 9<« 82..50 iH r buah. »2.!l0iierb.i>.h. 9,225 7c. per lb 8c. |>er lb 900 7c ' Re 2,926 10c. , Illc 7Jc llOc 4,275 I 7.875 10c. iwr lb . . . . ■Oc. |ier lb... 450 Thr per cent of pure living seed as shown in the table jc s on account of dead seed, woc, dock and many speoi,.s of weeds that arc comparatively new to the west. Reliable seed merchants do not retail .seeds ,,f auy hit„l that ;.iv inferior in quality to the average of the seeds sold among the farmers themselves. The chief evil of the =ec-,l trade arises in the importation and di.-,tribuli.in in a locality, of commercial seed containing seeds of extremely noxious weeds. The trade in grass and clover seed's 19 psuticiilurly, ia an i-xetHHlinRly fruitful luedium fur the introduction ai. ' Jiuemination of nnxious Wfuls from loc-ality to locality ond from province to province. .SEED CONTROL ACT, 1005. With a view to suppleuient educational work and provide purt-hnserg of seeds with the means by which farmers may protect themselves UKuinst the introduction of noxious woitls on their farms, tho Dominion Parliament pa««ed the ' Seed Control Act, 11)05,' a copy of which may bo had on application to tho office of the Seed Commissioner, Department of Agriculture, Ottawa. The main provisions of the Act demand that seed merchants pliice the names of certain noxious weeds plainly written on a lub«l and attach it to the bag or bin when the seeds of such .eeds are present in seed otfered for sale. Section 4 provides a standard of quality in resi)cet to both purity and vitality of timothy, alsikc and red clover seeis of tlic kind sold or offered for sale. Sellers of seeds are justly protected against n.igligent or evilly-disposed seed pur- cliasers. In ease of dispute between purchaser and seller, prosecution can be m.vie only when a representative sample of the seed in (luestion has been submitted and tested by an official seed analyst, and such sample must be taken and inclosed in a scaled package, either in the presence of the seller, or in the presence of two non-interested witnesses, within seven days after the sale of the seed. IMIH KITIES OF I'OMMKUC lAl. laiAINS. Out of 27,800,450 bushels of wheat of the crop of lt)0.'. that passed inspection at \\inmi.e»,' up to November IC, ii.lO.'i.iCl bushels, or IH ,,er cent were rejected on account of noxious impurities; l,(i20,5'J7 bushels were rejected on account of weed seeds and 1,48.5,464 bushels because of the stinkinj: smut. Were it not for this im- purity the wheat would have graded No. 2 Northern and better. This represents the loss to the producer amounting to about seven cents p<>r bushel, or a total of $113,435.40 on that portion of the crop that had passed inspection up to the date named. In order to obtain some definite information as to the nature of the noxious im- purities in connuercial grains produceil in tho western provinces, forty samples each taken from rejected car lots of the crop of 1005, wore obtained Uirough the kindness of tho Chief (Jrain Inspector at Winnipeg, and analysed in the seed laboratory The following table gives the number of the car; point of shipment; the per cent by weight of impurities, and the proportion by number of tho various kinds of impurities found in each of the forty samples examined: — IS |>li|!| J.)l(l)) I ^- • •" _ I.. T TIM m« r^ K 71 lA n .?^-J);.i;op«^''l- = *^i^^^^^''Sp5j5|?:»;> ; :|;!2g : :it;:g- I I •Vmi« I 'pi ■! I ■ 55 ^ *' • -fp -"I" . .-Mfx Jo ■ ?• "^ • ■ I^ S I^ I ' ^ "^ '^ ;* : :- ii? i ; M*= i ; >s^ ig^i :;!5» ; ^ isss ;= - I ■luujM.iv i -S|j : : :g iag : : :3S : : : : :5 : :;: '^-g : -g* :=s l^j:; :5 £ ' X I i_ : ■ • : ; : : ::;::■••' • • ■ ■ : \. ' i |M«i.M,v 12:^-2 : ijss :S22 :::::?; ;SS : i i i^ iTVi -^^^2 l^-;; : :i ^ ;1 « ! £ :?1S :ri : : .S : • iljT* is?'' -Si!;, :-j ? ■ " j 1 : ::::*•■ • :-.':■ i -w^MV"?) 't:S§.?5 :l-v-i" •''l^'^i?"«E-'l!l5« '■ "^'^"t ■•■ ■ 5?:^'5 c o s I u S S D ::::::?: : : :£ : sS- ■ ■ • ■ 11 001"! 1" IM^PAV --xr-ji^»«a-i,j,«^.^„„t,^.,,,,,,^,.^„^.^_„j^^j^^_,^^_^^_ ~ : i-Etj S ^ <8 £ S I S cQ S « 5 = £.= £•3*1 a » Crr «._= cj'C r J ^ u Thr ..bovc Uble cannot l.,- tukon to .ccuiutdy represent the extent to whiL-h il.« var.o>.3 k.ud* of weed, ar. distriln.U.l throughou tl.„%a,io.. di.tr -U Llauch «S .nany „f the n,o.t no.iou. w«.|,-wo..d, that do the mo.t injury o a ;;.;":r^^wi„; «« n--,,roduco «>cd. that fall at or prt-viuvu to the tine of har^^tinK. or ar. sTam^H '^it^z^^^::::'^^;-'^^^::::^^^ •«-'■'- and cLni.::;;;^:;; ,.. n^^'''' ?'"• .••'"^•""I.. l^i'^lw^d or wiid Luckwheat. lanib'.-quarter* ,,i^ '""^ ^^ "^ '"""' ""* "'^l>i'^''<''l -'•••'MHI.oim) bnsh.l., Without special ^■^;:^ p^ x::XX:t:i^::s ^^^^ '-^ ^^ norc sor.n.s and cannot bo too earnestly dealt with, tho loss to the producer is so scncu. and iho ,h.-ati.sfuction on all .ides is so aggravating.' V'oaui.i.t m so I SE SKKUS THAT ABE KNOWN TO BE VITAL. I. rm or irocurcl from a neighbouring farmer. In cither ea«e some definite know!- dge may b. had as to whetlicr the vitality of ,h,. ,eed has U-en in ured It is m.l nown hat even a hard frost is not fatal to the germ of urriStlicat. Th l^il!:l):VXZt '■ '"""■■■'• '^ ^""""^'^ "'^"'^^' '^ *'- ^«- ^ f--» '-f"- it is .uu.h to be re..„mmended that Jl s.hmLs used on the farm be first t.sted to tiK s,c>; I I ho nundn-r of r^-renl seed* that have K.rniinated nft.-r fo„r or hvc d..ys may saf. ly In- taken n» a K.ii.l.. in e^tiinatinR the .piantity of see.! to .ow. Mangel and lioet hm .Is. *„nc of the rii.er Rmss 8ee