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Woman ICOLORADO'S EXPERTMiss Anna M. Lute, State Seed . Analyst, Honored for Important WorkCAUGHT BOGUS SEED SELLERThousands of Lots Come to HerOffice Annually for Her InspectionFort Coliins, Colo., April 13 —(NEAi—A woman, Anna M Lute, isdoing a lot to save money for farmers of tins state and others in the Rocky Mountain region,Miss Lute Is state seed tnaiyst. Through her efforts farmers are receiving better seeds and producing better crops.Also through the energy of this tmporiiwoman, many dispenser* o£ inferior seeds have been prosecuted and one oi the most notorious was convicted af selling bogus grass seed, containing a large percentage of weeds, at the iugh cost of $1-50 a pound.This man. known as Dr. Miller, the Miracle Man, had made a fortune selling his grass seed whi-'h, according to his advertisements, could be sown on old weedy lawns would grow anywhere, in any soil, and was not affected by heat, coid or shade. He was finally caught, through the efforts of Miss Lute, and imprisoned in Illinois.Such instances are only paifc of the work of this brilliant woman who is making seeds safe for farmeis and who has received the distinction of being made a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Her mam work consists of testmg and determining the fitness of seeds.Tests Thousands of Lots To her office there come yearly thousands of seed samples for testing — from farmers, seedsmen, elevator and gram companies. Each sample is listed, thoroughly mixed and carefully weighed out for tests. Each small sample is then separated into' pure seed, other crop seeds, weed seeds and inert matterSome idea of the difficulty In separating the seeds in a single sample is seen in the fact that m alfalfa seed alone the following weed seeds ere commonly found and must be classified, dodder, perennial pepper-grass, Russian thistle, pigweed tumbleweed, Lamb’s quarter green foxtail. sweet clover, salt bush, poverty weeds and many others.After a percentage of pure seed has been determined, a subsequent smaller sample is taken for germination. For this purpose lots of from two to 800 seeds are used. These must be accurately counted.Machine Counts Seed For many years the counting Of seeds had to be done by hand. Aboutto test latlcnsInfer mixed some cA recerchemist death region water 1 Sever state h whorlet weeds.wTOCreatepedWashfarm be day in I of domi Piled timated bushels more th This nullifiertainlngtotal ai and spr:Shoulia norms 1931 prlt; as comp Such sibly wo in view i overs ara year and a half ago. however, the worjtj aU S Bureau of Plant Industry at Washington, D C, in cooperation with various seed laboratories, perfected a mechanical seed counter I to gooc which is entirely satisfactory. ! wheat tlt;which h planting A relaThis machine counts seeds ui size from timothy to beans and deposits them in neat rows upon a getmlna-tion medium, usually a blotting paper. moss or flannel.The germination tests are then made in ovens or incubators where the temperature is regulated. Many common seeds require five lo six days in the germinating chamber and some, like beets, broom grass, meadowfescue and red tops, require longer It is in this germination process that Miss Lute is able to determine the quality of the seed. If the samples do not react according to thegermination of proper seed, they are considered inferior and are labeled as such. Laws of the state requite that all seeds be labeled so that farmers know what they are buying.IT. S. Representative Abroad In reward for her seed testin'- work, Miss Lute and two other delegates will represent the United States at the International Seed Testing Congress at Waagenmgen, Holland, m JulyThe object of the state seed department is to regulate the safe and88,8 per donmentWithconsiderpossible cut thro harvestlieve evi the proc 000.000 tThe Ufor expo was plac ture dep -els, 15,00The fa a large ]Even t exist in t expected authorize may. ho for dispc have bee els in acOne Cent a Day Pays
Newspaper Details
Bismarck Tribune
Bismarck, North Dakota, US
Mon, Apr 13, 1931
Page 1
Full Page
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Anonymous A.
WI, USA 27 Oct 2021
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