HOW TO BUY GOOD GRASS SEED

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 15, Issue 63, 30 June 1950, Page 2

HOW TO BUY GOOD GRASS SEED

Questions & Answers (By E. R. Marryatt, Field Instructor, Whakatane)

Question: Would I do better to buy a cheap “Bushburm” mixture fur breaking-in land that I shall be ploughing in a few years? Answer: A cheap “Bushburn’' mixture would be suitable under these circumstances if it really is cheap. This can be discovered only by sending a sample to the Seed Testing Station and asking for a report on its purity and germination and on the type of ryegrass and White clover. The report will also tell you whether any seeds of troublesome weeds were found. Work out the cost of the pure living seeds per lb of. ryegrass and White clover and compare this'with those of other lines available. Occasionally cheap lines of “Bushburn” do appear on the market with troublesome weed seeds, with a low price per lb for the pure living seeds of ryegrass and white clover, both of which are of good type. “Bushburn” mixture of that type would indeed be a good “buy.” Such lines are uncommon, however, and you are strongly advised not to allow yourself to be persuaded by clever advertising and to follow the directions for wise buying given in these questions and answers.

The less finance is available for purchase of seed, the more important does the buying of cood seed become. To buy only the best but to buy less seed and to sow at a lighter rate to the acre is a sound policy under these circumstances. Never sacrifice quality for quantity. It is far better to sow 15-201 b of the best seed to the acre than 30-401 bof a mixture ’ which is “cheap” simply because it contains a great deal of dead seed and a considerable portion of poor species as well as some seeds of troublesome Weeds.

Cheap seed is seed that is of good type, has no impurities likely to cause trouble and is offered at a low price per lb of its pure living seed.