CANADIAN SUNFLOWER SEED.: I. BUSHEL WEIGHT AS A FACTOR IN GRADING

To determine the importance of bushel weight as a factor in grading, 51 samples of Sunrise and 34 samples of Mennonite seed were examined for associations between bushel weight and other properties of commercial sunflower seed.Highly significant correlations of bushel weight with total oil content of the seed, r =.867**; percentage kernel, r =.740**; percentage oil in the kernel, r =.795**; and percentage nitrogen in the kernels, r = −.467** were obtained. Oil yield, estimated on the basis of a cake containing 5% oil and 10% moisture, was also associated with bushel weight, r =.871**. The correlation coefficients of bushel weight with iodine value, acid value, and refractive index were not significant.The present grade specifications fail to take full advantage of bushel weight as a factor in grading sunflower seed since the levels were set too low to be effective. It is suggested that the levels might well be 30 lb. for No. 1, 26 lb. for No. 2, and 22 lb. for No. 3 instead of 24 lb. for No. 1 and 21 lb. ...