76 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



have that youngster able to recognize the seed of the sour dock, 

 the buckhorn, plantain and some others. When the farmer 

 comes in and exhibits his sample of seed I pick out those impuri- 

 ties and show him, and tell him what they are. He recognizes 

 them; we look at them through the glass, and the next time when 

 he wants to consider the question of clover seed he doesn't need 

 to bring a sample at all; he can look over it for himself or have his 

 little folks do it for him. 



With reference to the seed work, in helping the farmers, I 

 told the seedsmen over there that I would be of assistance to 

 them as long as they handled the best seeds that money would 

 buy. If they did other than that I would fight them to a finish. 

 I told them that I was telling them that for the reason I wanted 

 no misunderstanding. There has been no misunderstanding. 

 And if there has been any unkind thought toward me in my work 

 by any of the seedsmen I am not aware of it. 



A man would bring a sample of seed lo the office; I would 

 look it over, and if there were impurities in it I would pick them 

 out; sometimes if he was not satisfied that he was doing work that 

 was good enough, or if there were seeds that I was not able to 

 recognize, I would send them over here to the University. In a 

 few days they would come back. We took that sample of seed, 

 together with the government analysis, and put it right on our 

 table with the man's name on it and where the seed came from. 

 If it happened to be good seed it was a mighty good advertise- 

 ment, was it not? But there were no secrets in the process. 

 As a result, this past season the seed dealers have been sub- 

 mitting their samples of seed to the office and having them looked 

 over before they bought their stock. Last Legislature we got 

 pretty badly put out with some of those fellows down there at 

 Jefferson City. I don't know whether we actually called them 

 ugly names or not, but we thought them, because they did not 

 see the thing as we did and they did not pass what we called 

 "the pure seed law." Missouri has no pure seed law, but in 

 Pettis county we have an arrangement that is a better thing 

 than any law that can be put on any statute book. 



The children in the schools have assisted greatly in working 

 out this one problem in Pettis county. Some one said that 

 man is the greatest institution in the world, and I believe that — 

 unless perhaps — I think, however, that if there is any difference, 

 woman is a little bit better. In our work to try to make country 

 life worth while over in Pettis county I am giving credit to a 



