Records of country shippers are inspected to verify information as to origin and weight as shown on shippers' declarations issued to verified-origin dealers. A record is obtained of shipments from production areas in the Southwest to country shippers in the Northern States in order to determine how such seed is represented as to origin when sold.

Records of verified-origin dealers normally are audited in midseason (January) and near the end of the fiscal year (June). Prescribed records, properly maintained, enable a Federal inspector to check the receipt, origin, and disposition of all alfalfa or red clover seed handled.

Retailers in consuming areas are visited to ascertain whether all lots of seed of alfalfa and red clover bearing verified-origin tags have been verified and whether the origin stated is correct. Invoice information is obtained to be checked against stock cards maintained by the dealers to determine whether all shipments are being charged against the proper lots. Samples of the same lot obtained from different shipments, and file samples maintained by verified-origin dealers are compared to ascertain whether there appears to be any substitution.

Samples of lots bearing verified-origin tags are examined for incidental seeds indicative of origin and to determine whether such lots meet the quality requirements of the Service for the attachment of verified-origin tags, which are as follows: The seed shall contain not more than 2 percent of impurities other than crop seeds; not more than 1 percent of weed seeds; and not more than 3 percent of any one kind or a total of more than 5 percent of crop seeds other than alfalfa and red clover.

The total germination and hard seed shall not be less than 80 percent. The seed shall also be of the size, plumpness, color, and the other physical characteristics that ordinarily distinguish seed of good quality.

Each lot of cleaned seed shall be uniform throughout, so that a sample taken from any part of the lot will represent, within tolerances, the quality and condition of the entire lot.

Many country shippers also are reached by mail and are asked to submit growers' and shippers' declarations, which they hold as assurance of origin. Inquiries are sent to growers to verify information given in growers' declarations.

Interest in verified-origin seed has centered largely in alfalfa, probably because origin is more important for alfalfa seed than for seed of red clover and because the producer and the planter of the seed often are in the same locality, whereas alfalfa seed may come some distance.

The amounts verified in 1927-1939 averaged about 39 million pounds of alfalfa seed and 13.5 million pounds of red clover seed.

For the fiscal years 1954-1958, origin verification of alfalfa seed averaged about 70 million pounds (exclusive of reverification) and 68 thousand pounds of red clover seed. The largest amount of alfalfa seed verified for any 12-month period was 91,305,000 pounds, exclusive of reverification, for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1954. Reverification refers to seed that is sold by one verified-origin seed dealer to another. Each dealer reports the seed for verification of origin.

The number of verified-origin seed dealers has ranged from 46 in 1929 to 124 for the 1955-1956 season; 95 dealers in 19 States were enrolled for the 1959-1960 season.

An inspection service as to quality of seeds was inaugurated by the Seed Branch in November 1951 to determine and certify the quality of agricultural and vegetable seeds based on purity, germination, and content of seed of noxious weeds. The Service was started at the request of seedsmen who engage in foreign commerce. Seedsmen sometimes need a Federal certificate to obtain a price adjustment when imported seeds meet import requirements but fail to conform to contract specifications. Contracts covering the sale of seeds for exportation sometimes specify that a Federal certificate be furnished as proof of quality.

The service is available only for agricultural and vegetable seeds as defined under the Federal Seed Act or seeds purchased by Government agencies. The volume of service is controlled by the facilities available. Service testing is limited to seed owned by or sold or shipped to any department or agency of the U.S. Government or which is in or destined for foreign commerce.

Tests are made in accordance with the methods of seed testing prescribed under the Federal Seed Act or, when requested by the applicant, in accordance with the International Rules for Seed Testing. Samples are tested and certificated for one or more of the factors of quality, as requested by the applicant for the inspection.

Two types of inspection are made. Sample inspection certificates apply only to the sample tested. Lot inspection certificates apply to the lot of seed sampled and tested. Sample inspection service only is available on seeds in or destined for foreign commerce. Lot inspection service is available on seeds tested for other Government agencies and departments, provided the lot of seeds was officially sampled by the Grain Division.

A schedule of fees for different kinds of seeds, based on the cost of the service, has been established. Fees for sampling seeds are based on the time consumed, at an hourly rate plus the cost of travel and other expenses, if any.

Service testing is not available for seeds in interstate or intrastate commerce. State, commercial, and private laboratories perform such service. Most State laboratories test a limited number of samples of seed for farmers and seedsmen free of charge or for a nominal fee after a specified number of free tests have been made. Many of the larger seed firms operate their own seed laboratories. Commercial seed laboratories test seeds on a fee basis.

WALTER R. CRISPIN is in charge of the district office of the Seed Branch, Grain Division, Agricultural Marketing Service, Kansas City, Mo. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri.