Department of Agriculture Bombay Bulletin No. 37 1910. an Examination of the Seed-Supply of the Broach District

In the case of the rabi crops the grain is thoroughly dried in the hot sun of June before storing in the Pala and it is examined twice or thrice during the rainy season for any trace of the presence of weevils. [...] These are in the first place the purity of the sample or in other words its freedom from dirt or the seeds of weeds ; in the second place the proportion of seeds which will germinate ; and in the third the speed or energy of germination. [...] Its size and vigor of its germination are some of the first evidence of its individual characteristics." The variation in the speed of germination of the different samples of the same kind of seed although kept under the same external conditions as regards air moisture warmth etc. [...] (2) The time of harvest of the main crop is not generally coincident with that of the seeing of most of the weed plants in the black cotton soil of Broach. [...] Subject to these limitations I think we are justified in draing the following conclusions :— (i) There is no lack of appreciation on the part of the farmers of the benefits to be derived from choosing seed from the best of the produce and the practice is followed as tar as possible with most of the crops.