H3 "=- E. S. LiBHARY. Cop. % v--. ^ «. CONNECTICUT ^« I (* I AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION NEW HAVEN, CONN« BULLETIN 161, JANUARY, 1909. FEEDS, SEEDS AND WEEDS. By E. H. Jenkins. The Bulletins of this Station are mailed free to citizens of Con- necticut who apply for them, and to others as far as the editions permit. CONNECTICUT AGRICDLTURAL EIPERIMEtlT STATION, BOARD OF CONTROL. His Excellent, George L. Lilley, Ex officio, President. Prof. H. W. Conn, Vice President Middletown. Prof. W. H. Brewer, Secretary New Haven. B. W. Collins Meriden. Charles M. Jarvis Berlin. Frank H. Stadtmueller Elmwood. J. H. Webb Hamden. E. H. Jenkins, Director and Treasurer New Haven. STATION STAFF. Cheniists. Analytical Laboratory. John P. Street, M.S., Chemist in Charge. E. Monroe Bailey, M.S. C. A. Brautlecht, Ph.B. C. B. Morrison, B.S. Clarence W. Rodman, B.S. Laboratory for the Study of Proteids. T. B. Osborne, Ph.D., Chemist in Charge. Botanist. G. P. Clinton, S.D. Entomologist. W. E. Britton, Ph.D. Assistant in Entomology. B. H. Walden, B.Agr. Forester. Austin F. Hawes, M.F. Agronomist. Edward M. East, Ph.D. Seed Testing. Mary H. Jagger. Stenographers and Clerks. Miss V. E. Cole. Miss L. M. Brautlecht. Miss E. B. Whittlesey. Miss C. A. Botsford. In charge of Buiidi)igs and Grounds. William Veitch. Laboratory Helper. Hugo Lange. Savipling Agent. V. L. Churchill, New Haven. FEEDS, SEEDS AND WEEDS. BY E. H. JENKINS. There are a number of mixtures sold as feeds in this State which contain large quantities of seeds of undesirable and pesti- lent weeds of which a considerable portion are alive and will, under proper conditions, promptly germinate and grow. The weed seeds are not always quickly detected by casual inspection, because they are variously mixed with chaff and oat hulls, with linseed, barley and corn products and are often mixed or smeared with molasses. These facts are naturally not mentioned in the statements of composition, yet they are more important to the buyer than the chemical analysis. A moderate food value may be granted to ground weed seeds, or to some species of them, but it is very doubtful if small whole seeds are broken up and digested by the animal. It has been proved that fermenting manure kills many weed seeds when they are kept in it for some time, but common experi- ence fulty justifies the belief that the farm may be stocked with weeds which come along with the manure. Weed seeds which are scattered abundantly wherever feed and feed residues are scattered, will surely make their appearance in the fields. Thus charlock appeared last year quite abundantly on the station land, where it had not been seen for twenty-six years at least. On searching for the cause, it appeared that the junkos or snowbirds had been fed with wheat screenings on a flat roof in the neighborhood during a severe winter and the charlock seeds in the screenings had no doubt been blown from the roof to the lawn. Within the last biennial period we have found weed seed very abundant in the feeds named in the following table. This table shows in sufficient detail the results of a careful examination of the samples, made by Miss M. H. Jagger of this station. There are given the total number of seeds present in each pound of the mixture or "feed" and the number of each of the four connecticut experiment station bulletin l6l. Number and Vitality of Weed Seeds Cost per ton at date of sampling Station No Total number of weed seeds per pound — Pig weeds, number per pound " germinating -.. Knot weeds, number per pound . " germinating- Charlock and black mustard, number per pound " germinating Bottle grasses, number per pound " germinating Other weed seeds '5 --'5 .2 -a ill << $28.00 $30.00 19874 =.577 11528 7800 3364 4400 1285 ii83 I814 1 160 522 none 378 * 320 * 5443 1520 3810 912 529 400 Molac Dairy Feed. $30.00 $29.00 $31.00 $27.00 21577 19860 i 19847 21580 5234 29324 2217 I II988 199 2397 705 648 300 * 1612 none 400 1490 905 13446 8443 1652 6030 2265 521 2355 none 362 * 670 402 378 Undetermined. f None found. commonest and most dangerous kinds of weeds. The vitality of most of them was determined and is given in the table. Seeds of the false foxtails or bottle grasses (Chcctochloa) , pigweeds or lambs' quarters (Chenopodiuni), knot weed or bind- weed {Polygonum), are found abundantly in all the feeds named; black mustard and charlock (Brassica) are abundant in most of them, and ragweed (Ambrosia) , the worthless panics (Paiiicioii capillar e, filiforme and sanguinale), sorrel and dock (Ritniex), the common and Canada thistle and catchfly (Silene) are also found in most of them. Every pound of each of these mixtures brings to the farm from five thousand to eighty-six thousand seeds, of which, in some cases a hundred, in others more than twenty-two thousand are alive. Certain manufacturers claim to destroy the vitality of the weeds which they mix with feed, but in no one of those above reported has even this measure of protection to the purchaser been thoroughly done. It has been apparently attempted only in case of the sucrene feeds. FEEDS, SEEDS AND WEEDS. IN One Pound of the Feeds Named. $26.00 19855 22224 2872 603 1514 453 8316 3476 5241 2568 1159 Sucrene Horse Feed. Sucrene Dairy Feed. 131.00 ■ $32.00 $30.00 19876 21497 19877 8574 2509 27 1622 27100 20680 207 1600 8160 2786 128 IIOI none * none 453 * 160 * 192 * 3458 103 532 4240 509 440 3466 3" 615 $28.00 21486 10360 7120 99 1440 * 80 * 1360 453 360 H. J. Flax Feed. $25.00 $28.00 19703 I976I 48663 21267 31752 I023I I38I4 2250 t 705 * 1749 II59 * 598 14320 8618 6444 4136 842 554 $25.00 21436 86000 41080 1040 1720 774 36440 13118 5720 j^ Besides 3124 seeds of other species of Polygonum. All of these weeds are characteristic of grain screenings which are the refuse separated from grain, in order to make the latter marketable or fit for milling. These screenings vary a good deal in quality. Thus an analysis recently made here of wheat screen- ings showed about 33 per cent, of flax and shrunken cereal, 15 per cent, of foxtails, 8 per cent, of bindweeds and pigweeds, 15 per cent, of weed seeds of other species and 21 per cent, of dust, broken seed and sand. Even such a mixture is much better than many others which often contain very little, if any, wheat or flax. An average price for screenings is $12.00 a ton in Chicago or $16.00 in Connecticut. Mixed with molasses and chaff or hulls, and in some cases with really good feed materials, some of them sell at prices which are nearly as high as those paid for first-class feeds. Made in considerable part of inferior materials and charged with weed seeds, they are dangerous on the farm. 6 CONNI-XTICUT EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN l6l. A sample of Barley Sprouts, sent b}- a prospective buyer, contained : Barley sprouts 70.5 per cent. Weed seeds 29.5 " " 1 00.0 The weed seeds were Corn Cockle ( Vaccaria) 14.0 per cent. Wild oats (Avena fatiia) lo.o " " Bindweed {Polygonum) 2.8 " " Four other species of weeds 2.7 " " 295 Further particulars regarding the presence of weed seeds in feeds will be found in Bulletins 156 of the Maine Station and 131 of the Vermont Station. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from LYRASIS members and Sloan Foundation http://www.archive.org/details/feedsseedsweedsOOjenk University of Connecticut Libraries 39153029221043