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THE

ADULTERATION OF SEEDS.

HE practice of "doctoring" certain of the seeds failing to start, the purchaser seeds, particularly clover seed, has now could have recourse to the seedsman become so well understood by skilful manipu- who had supplied him, before venturing on lators, that it may be considered a distinct sowing the bulk in the field. There is branch of business. It is chiefly carried on no reason to suppose that respectable in London, and so proficient are the operators, seedsmen, who pay proper attention to the that even experienced seedsmen have occasion- details of their business, would hesitate to ally been deceived when asked to pronounce give such a guarantee as that recommended— on the genuineness and quality of a sample namely, that the seeds supplied by them which had undergone the process of "doctor- have not been 'doctored' or 'improved' iing." When such has been the case, it is not in any way but are of the age stated, difficult to understand that there are few and in the natural state as grown. They farmers who could detect the fraud. would not hesitate, we think, to give a guarantee of this kind, because, before doing so, they would have fully tested and satisfied themselves as to the germinating powers of the seeds sold by them when taken into stock, although it is not a guarantee that the seeds will produce a crop. Still, we think it would be more satisfactory if farmers were also to adopt a similar test to that employed by seedsmen, and to keep a record of the results. Of course, there are many who would not take the trouble, and others might not attend to the details in a proper manner; at the same time it would be well were testing seeds more generally practised than it is by farmers.

But although it may have been the case that experienced seedsmen have been deceived when asked to decide off-hand as to the quality of a doctored sample, yet no seedsman who has a character to lose would admit seeds of any kind whatsoever into his stock without proving them. This is done by counting out a hundred seeds, and placing them in a pot containing some fine mould, which is then plunged into a hot-bed, or kept in a warm room until the seeds have germinated. The number of plants are then counted, and the difference between the number of seeds sown and those which have germinated shews the value of the sample. This test could also be applied by farmers before sowing the seeds in the open fields, and in this way they would obtain that security against failure, as arising from the germinating power of the seeds, which it is considered necessary should be afforded, as in the event of a considerable proportion

The practice of adulteration has been stimulated by the demand for low-priced articles, and it is not until purchasers find they have something "nasty" as well as "cheap," that the question of quality comes uppermost; that competition in the seed trade.

as in almost every department of business, has cut down profits to such an extent that the prices charged by respectable merchants for the best qualities of seeds are not more than allow of a very moderate per-centage; and, therefore, when we find what professes to be the same article offered at a much lower rate than that at which it is quoted by seedsmen, in whom there is reason to believe confidence may be placed, we may consider there is not merely room for suspicion, but an absolute certainty that the article is not genuine; so that its seeming cheapness, instead of being a temptation to purchase, should rather teach us to avoid it. There cannot be a

greater instance of mistaken economy than that of buying cheap seeds, which may be aptly illustrated by supposing that seed can be purchased one penny or twopence per pound cheaper from one seedsman than another, say red clover at 8d. and rod. per lb. Now, if 90 per cent. of the 10d. per lb. seed grows, and only from 40 to 50 or even 60 per cent. of the 8d. per lb. seed, the purchaser is a great loser by the seeming cheapness of the one lot as compared with the other.

There is another point that has been urged, viz. that Parliament should pass a measure making any one guilty of such frauds as the adulteration of agricultural seeds, liable to punishment as a criminal, as in the case of France and other countries. In a leading article which recently appeared in The Farmer, the writer entered somewhat more fully into this part of the subject, from which we make the following extract—

"In this free country we are so very free that even swindling is protected; at least, there are certain forms

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in which it is manifested where the law appears to be powerless. They manage things better in France,' and the adoption of French law in this respect would prove of material advantage to the community. To adulterate in France is, in most instances, to run the risk of being ruined for life. Why should we not have inspectors of seeds, manures, and other goods, as well as of weights and measures, so that the interests of consumers might be protected, and men who would otherwise be honest not forced to swindle, as at present in not a few instances, or abandon their business. Let those who are detected adulterating their goods, whatever they may consist of, be subjected to fine and imprisonment, and their names published; and adul

teration would soon be found to have received 'a heavy blow and great discouragement.' The expense of inspection would be amply repaid by the increased safety and comfort to consumers arising from purity, by cessation of trade in spurious articles, and by diverting the labour into honest channels of a perfect host of men, women, and children, who are at present doing nothing else but plying a nefarious calling of adulteration in one thing or other."

The Legislature should be called upon to interfere in order that adulteration, in every shape and form, should be guarded against in the strictest manner, and punished severely when detected.

There is just one point more to which we shall allude, connected with the

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germinating power of seeds. It is quite possible that seeds may stand the preliminary test in a perfectly satisfactory manner, and yet that the result in the open field may not be equally satisfactory. Setting

aside an abnormal condition of the soil un

favourable to the healthy production of plants, as for instance where the soil is "clover-sick,” there may be occasionally a deficiency in the number of plants grown, which may lead to the supposition that there has been something wrong with the seed. Now, we need scarcely say that even a very little difference in the manner in which the seed has been covered will affect its germinating power to a considerable extent.

The soil of even one field may

not be of the same nature throughout, and in some parts the seeds may be much more easily covered to a greater depth than is consistent with successful germination than is the case in other parts of the field; and it has been proved that even a quarter of an inch of additional cover prevents a considerable per-centage of certain seeds from germinating. We merely mention this point, because it is sometimes apt to be overlooked, and we would therefore strongly advise every purchaser of seeds to satisfy himself beforehand of the germinating powers of the seeds with which he may have been supplied, by adopting the test used by seedsmen for that purpose. Should the seeds stand that test, then in the case of any failure in the field he may rest satisfied that it has been owing to some other cause than a lack of vitality.

Seedsmen argue that they have always looked upon farmers and gardeners, who are almost exclusively the retail purchasers of seeds, as being possessed of a full average amount of that intelligence which, with a little well-directed application, will enable them to judge for themselves in all matters pertaining to their profession, among which a knowledge of seeds is certainly not the least important; and that they do possess the requisite powers of discrimination is evident from the facility with which they detect those minute differences presented by samples of the many cultivated varieties of cereal grains and other large seeded plants with which they have to operate. Hence it may be safely concluded, that in order to acquire an equally discriminating acquaintance with the smaller seeds, such as those of clovers and grasses, they have only to accustom themselves to the use of the microscope, with which to magnify the smallest seeds to at least the sizes of wheat, oats, barley, beans, or others which they are accustomed to handle. Many look upon the use of the microscope as a mysterious and difficult operation, requiring far too much time, application, and bother for their having anything to do with it; but they have only to give it a fair trial in order to discover their mistake, disabuse themselves of all such absurd notions, and find, on the contrary, that it is in the highest degree interesting, instructive, and useful. And even as an occasional treat to the young, its wonders will, in their estimation, vie with, if not surpass, those of the magic lantern, the kaleidoscope, and the wheel of life, while they will have a more potent influence in providing an after taste for intellectual and useful research. Many of the smaller seeds which, to the unaided eye, seem very much alike, yet present remarkably diversified, and often very beautiful appearances when viewed through a microscope of only ordinary power; and when one is accustomed so to look at them, the transition is easy, to the investigation of the wide fields for microscopic observation which are embraced within the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms.

Mixing, colouring, and killing, are all skil fully perpetrated in adulterating seeds; and all these arts, however artistically they may have been applied, are more or less capable of being detected by the microscope. Thus, with clovers and grass seeds, none are SO exactly alike but that a difference can be observed by a skilful microscopist, and most of the injurious or worthless kinds employed in mixing are so dissimilar that their detection is comparatively easy. This is not the case, however, with seeds of the varieties of turnips and other brassica, although those of the different genera, such as common or rough-leaved turnip, swedish turnip, rape, and even of some of their individual varieties, possess sufficient distinctive characteristics to enable a careful observer to find out whether or not they are mixed. The art of colouring has in the case of clover seed attained to great perfection; yet careful and repeated observation of the position and shading of the natural colours in the genuine seeds will serve to shew the difference between them and the best examples of artificial colouring; which last is not nearly so applicable to grass and turnip seeds; but the sulphur smoking of the former, and the oil-dressing of the latter, serve to impart a freshness of appearance which the seeds do not actually possess.

Killing is generally done by oven-heating (sub-roasting); or want of vitality may arise from extreme age in the seeds; in either case the seeds will appear dry when bruised, which is peculiarly marked in turnip, rape, and other oleaginous seeds, from the comparative dryness or absence of oil which they exhibit when crushed. Most people are familiar with the difference between fresh and roasted peas, and a similar difference in appearance is presented, under the microscope, between fresh and roasted small seeds.

For further illustrating some of the preceding results we are enabled, through the kindness of Mr James Bryson, optician, Edinburgh, to give the four accompanying engravings from magnified photographs, prepared by him, the first three of which are from a sample of what, in market phrase, was termed "good red

clover seed," and the fourth from another of have taken them for those of the dodder, good yellow clover, medick, or trefoil seed.

No 1. shews really good plump seeds of red clover in different positions, when magnified by only a good pocket microscope. It is usually of a shaded purplish and yellowish

that pest of Dutch clover fields. In the sample from whence they were taken these were present in about the proportion of six per cent.

No. 3 exhibits different views of the rib

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No. 4. Yellow clover seed Medicago lupulina-is of a uniform sulphury yellow colour, and more regular kidney-bean-like shape than the red clover seed, from which it also differs in possessing a distinct peculiarity of smell. None of this seed appeared in the sample from whence the preceding three were selected, although it is more employed than any other for adulterating red clover seed, both in its natural state, and when "improved" by colouring.

As noticed at page 46, really good growing seeds may sometimes fail from different and not easily-ascertained causes; hence the guaranteeing of quality might often lead to not easily-settled disputes, more especially that as there are unfair dealers among seedsmen, there are equally unscrupulous dealers

among seed purchasers, who are ever ready to catch at any pretext that will give them the semblance of an excuse for withholding payment of their seed account. While fraudulent dealers have everything to lose, the fair dealer has nothing to fear, but much to gain from microscopic or other investigation; for how often do we see careless cultivators blame the seedsmen for sending them a mixture of weed seeds, when the fault of weed growth was entirely their own. For instance, the unusually abundant growth of corn mustard last year was attributed by many to foul seed, when it undoubtedly arose from some peculiarity in the season which restricted the ravages of its natural enemy, the turnip fly, and allowed the mustard plants to grow and bloom in unrestricted luxuriance.

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AGRICULTURAL WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

NE of the subjects recently discussed in the Scottish Chamber of Agriculture, was the irregularity which prevails in the existing system of weights and measures. The members present did not feel inclined to support the proposed introduction of a metric system, with a Frenchified nomenclature, but they were unanimous in condemning the existing system, which renders market quotations in many cases perfectly unintelligible. Who can tell what is a "boll"? It means different measures in different places; and the “quarter," although understood to consist of eight bushels, is not in all cases correctly represented by that measure, for it is not unusual to make up the so-called quarter to a certain weight, irrespective of the actual number of bushels. And here, let us ask, what is a "bushel"? We shall be told by some that the weight of a bushel depends upon the quality of the grain. True enough, in some cases, but not in all, for a bushel of wheat is understood in one place to mean 70 lb., in another 75 lb., in a third 80 lb., in a fourth 63 lb., and so on. Then, again, a bushel of barley means in different localities 38 quarts, 39 quarts, 40

VOL. I.

lb., 60 lb., 38 lb., 54 lb., 521⁄2 lb., without any reference to the quality of the barley, or its actual weight per imperial bushel.

But if it is impossible to define accurately what is a quarter or a bushel, we shall find ourselves equally at a loss, when we come to speak of "bags," "measures," and "loads." In some market towns a bag means 205 lb., and in others 230 lb., 220 lb., 221 lb., 240 lb., &c. A "measure" of wheat is understood to be 180 lb. in certain places, but not in all, while a "load" varies from 3 bushels to 5 quarters, or it is 144 quarts, or 416 lb., or 488 lb. according to locality. Then we have a number of nondescript measures, which puzzle even the initiated, and when we come to" hobbitts," "windles," and "coombs," we are compelled to admit that to understand the grain market quotations of Great Britain is even more difficult than to comprehend the intricacies of "Bradshaw."

The mystification does not end, however, with the grain trade. A pound of butter is supposed to consist of 16 ounces according to the imperial standard, but local "use and wont" overrides Acts of Parliament, and

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