What Labels Tell And Do Not Tell

WALTER A. DAVIDSON.

DETAILED labeling has been adopted in the United States as the course most helpful to buyers of seeds.

The label on a package of seeds cannot help you if you do not read it.

Time was when the phrase "Buyer, beware!" was more essential than it is now, but it is wise still to be alert to the possibility of deception, even though deception as to the variety and quality of seed is difficult to detect except by testing techniques. The tests are the basis for most of the information on the label. As a buyer, you have little choice but to rely on this information.

The information on labels is not required to be included in advertisements pertaining to seeds. The seed laws prohibit false advertising, but sometimes it is hard to distinguish between statements that are false or misleading and those that are not.

The Supreme Court of the United States at one time excused the puffing sometimes found in advertisements. Some court interpretations have interpreted advertisements from the point of view of an ordinarily prudent person. The net result is that advertisements pertaining to seed may contain exaggerations or, indeed, may not tell. the whole truth.

For instance, seeds may be described as being "offcolor" when actually they are screenings containing mostly immature, discolored seeds which may be low in germination and vigor. The advertisement may not mention germination. Such "offcolor" seeds may be described as a bargain in view of the low price, but no reference is made to a large percentage of seeds of weeds. Such inferior seeds may be small, and the advertisement may say there are more seeds per pound, without revealing that the proportion that would produce vigorous seedlings is small.

Mail-order seeds must be labeled, but the buyer ordinarily does not see the information on the label until it is delivered and paid for. It would be well to insist that complete information be supplied before you order such seeds.

Farmers who sell seeds or exchange seeds with their neighbors are exempt from the labeling requirements under the laws in most States. Buying seeds from your neighbor farmer may be advisable from the standpoint of having assurance of the variety, but most farmers do not have cleaning equipment for separating weed seeds. Many farmers do not take the precaution of having such seeds tested for germination. You should insist that a sample of such seeds be tested to determine quality before buying or accepting them in a trade.

To take advantage of detailed labeling, you must be informed as to the kind, variety, and quality of seeds that will best meet your needs. Buyers get more advice from retailers than from any other source. Much good advice is given by retail seedsmen, but I have stood at the counters in drugstores, dime stores, some seed stores, and department stores and have been amazed at the misinformation given by clerks to seed buyers.

It will be easier to understand the label and make decisions when you buy seeds if you are informed and give consideration to the importance of the different quality factors, the average quality of the different kinds, the relationship between quality and money value, and the use to be made of the plants.

THE IMPORTANCE of the different measurements of quality depends on the importance you attach to them. Whether you get your money's worth is determined by the ability of the seeds to produce the plants you want. Seed labeling includes the percentages of pure seed, germination, other crop seeds, inert matter, and weed seeds; the name of the kind or kind and variety of pure seeds; and the names and number per ounce or pound of noxious-weed seeds.

When the label shows only the name of the kind, the percentage of pure seed is the proportion of the material in the container that is seed of the kind named.

When the variety name is also given, the pure seed represents the proportion that is pure seed of that variety.

The percentage of other crop seeds or other agricultural seeds represents that portion that is not of the kind or the variety considered in the pure seed. Because each kind in the "other crop seed" is not separately shown, it cannot be determined from the label, but when any one kind exceeds 5 percent of the whole contents of the container, it must be separately shown by name and percentage.

Inert matter consists of chaff, dirt, stones, stems, and pieces of seed one-half the original size or less. Broken pieces more than one-half the original size are included in the percentage of pure seed. In seed mixtures, such as seed of lawn grasses, the percentage of inert matter includes all the inert matter; it should not be stated separately for each kind of seed included in the mixture.

The percentage of weed seeds includes seeds of noxious weeds, even though the presence of noxious-weed seeds is shown separately on the label. State law, regulations, or custom determine which plants are weeds as distinguished from crop seeds.

Noxious weeds are plants defined under State law as being particularly injurious. The name and the rate of occurrence of their seeds per ounce or pound of the contents of the containers is shown on the label. In most States, it is illegal to sell seed that contains seeds of certain noxious weeds. The restrictions are meant to protect seed buyers, but you should realize there is no way to be sure there are no noxious-weed seeds in any lot of seed. Up-to-date seed-cleaning equipment can perform marvelous feats in the separation of seeds, but there is always the possibility that a few weed seeds remain.

The germination percentage represents the proportion of the pure seed that will germinate. A label stating "germination 90%" does not mean that 90 percent of the contents of the package or bag will germinate. Neither does the germination percentage pertain to the "other crop seed," for this is normally not tested to determine its germination.

Seed-testing laboratories grow seeds under favorable conditions to measure germination. It would be unusual that such favorable conditions would exist in a field; therefore you should consider the germination percentage in the light of the conditions to which the seed will be subjected before the plant can be produced. A number of conditions affect performance in the field, as compared to the laboratory the size of the seeds, the natural time taken for germination, the condition of the seedbed, and the vigor of seedlings.

Germination requires the right amount of moisture. A seed absorbs moisture from the particles of soil against which it has come to rest. In a well-prepared seedbed, all of the seeds may come to rest in a position where this is possible. Favorable moisture conditions are usually more likely 2 or 3 inches below the surface. Large seeds can send a sprout this distance to the surface, but many small seeds cannot. If favorable moisture conditions do not exist close to the surface, small seeds that require shallow sowing may not come to rest where moisture is available, and a substantial proportion of the seeds may not produce plants.

Some kinds of seeds may germinate quickly under favorable conditions. Lettuce, for example, may germinate in 3 days. Others may require a longer period. Bluegrass takes about 28 days.

If moisture is not available during the whole time, the seeds may germinate and later become dry and die.