638 



HORTICULTURE 



May 1, 1909 



Seed Trade 



AMERICAN SEED TRADE ASSO- 

 CIATION. 

 Wataon S. Woodruff, Orange, Conn., 

 Pre*.; J. C. lloblnson, Waterloo, Neb., 

 riret VIoerres.; C. E. Keiuiel, Cleveland, 

 O., See'y and Treas. Tweiity-seYenth an- 

 BBBl L'OureutljQ June 22-24, I'JOO, at Clifton 

 House, Niagara Kails, Ont. 



WHOLESALE SEEDSMEN'S 

 LEAGUE. 

 F. W. Bruggerhof, Pres.; Burnet Land- 

 nib, Sec'y. 



A Questionable Policy. 



Reference was made a few weeks 

 since to the supplementary contract 

 for garden seeds awarded by the De- 

 partment of Agriculture to one of the 

 California seed growers, but no 

 thought was there of refleeting on the 

 integrity of the successful bidder. In- 

 deed, no question that eveiything was 

 not entirely square and above board 

 has ever been raised. In referring to 

 the verj' low price at which report 

 says this contract was secured, the 

 thought in the mind of tlie writer was 

 the absurdly low quotations made by 

 nearly all seedsmen and seed growers 

 when bidding for tlie government or- 

 der — piices usually much lower than 

 they would quote to one another. The 

 fact of the large quantities wanted 

 does not justify many of these very 

 low figures, the result of which is to 

 cause erroneous impressions of stan- 

 dards of values in the minds of De- 

 partment officials or employees, who 

 cannot be convinced that many of 

 these prices are below cost of produc- 

 tion, which is often the case. The idea 

 that seeds are cheap and of little value 

 is fostered if not created by this un- 

 fortunate custom, and wholly incorrect 

 views of the seedsmen's profits are 

 formed. The latter statement is based 

 on a remark of one of the southern 

 Congressmen when the appropriation 

 for the free seed distribution was un- 

 der debate in the House two years ago. 

 Comparing the prices in some of the 

 retail catalogues with those paid by 

 the Department of Agriculture for the 

 same varieties, this solon characterized 

 the seedsmen as robbers and swindlers 

 and the disparity between the two 

 sets of prices seems to give some sort 

 of justification for his rabid utterance. 

 Seed Stocks Running Low and Values 

 Soaring. 



From all parts of the country come 

 reports of great activity in the retail 

 seed business, and all indications now 

 point to a record year. The large job- 

 bing houses are very busy, and have 

 to report items sold out every day. 

 In fact never were stocks so broken 

 and so many items exhausted. Most 

 ample crops will be needed to bring 

 stocks up to average quantities, as 

 with the exception of a very few lines, 

 reserves are very small or wholly 

 ■wiped out. Growers of seed beans 

 have had their troubles getting out 

 their seed stocks this year, and many 

 who based their contracting prices on 

 the basis of last year's figures paid 

 the farmers, have found themselves 

 facing the alternative of not putting 

 out their seed or of doing business for 

 practically nothing. While manufac- 

 tured products have greatly declined, 



and are going to still lower levels. 



F^r»e;{»l:i F*^ltx:i {S^eedjs 



Just Received 



I'er 100 1000 .">(K)0 



KBNTIA BEIiMOREANA $0.50 $4.00 .$1S.U0 



KKNTIA FOKSTISUIANA 50 4.uO 2l).00 



('()( OS WlODlHOI-r.IAX'.V 1.00 7.50 :i3.oo 



i>nni:\ix Kr,ii.i.N.\ i'.\ so 3.00 13.00 



I'HOKNlX IW.N'.MMII-NSIS 50 3.00 13.011 



SKAKOHTIllA lOLIOIiA.XS 75 (i.OO 23.00 



LATANIA HOKIiUNU^V 'M 2.50 lO.lMl 



AllECA LUTESCENS 1.00 7.50 .'lO.Oli 



ARTHUR T. BODDINGTON, s^^^^'V^ti: st., New York 



agricultural products are, on the other 

 hand, establishing new high records. 

 Practically everj'thing the farmer pro- 

 duces is unusually high, not a lew 

 abnormally above average prices, and 

 when one be.gins to talk of contracted 

 crops, he finds that the farmer has 

 high and lofty ideas of values, and 

 moreover is pretty firm in standing by 

 his guns. It is said that much of the 

 winter wheat crop of Michigan has 

 winterkilled and will be plowed up, 

 and about the only crops that can be 

 substituted are potatoes, corn, peas 

 and beans, and this will enable the 

 seed grower to secure his acreage, but 

 owing to the present high price of 

 potatoes, they will be largely substi- 

 tuted and beans will be a second 

 choice. 



Notes. 



Falmouth, Mass.— The new seed 

 store and greenhouses of H. V. Law- 

 rence are considered models of their 

 kind, being equipped with all modern 

 improvements. 



Fredonia, N. Y. — It is announced 

 that H. L. Gumming and F. W. Case 

 have increased their stock in the Fre- 

 donia Seed Co. and have taken the 

 management of the company. 



Sioux Falls, S. D.— O. S. Jones & 

 Co., seedsmen of Madison, S. D. 

 have purchased land on Phillips aven- 

 ue, on which they will erect a three- 

 story building and transfer their seed 

 business to this place. 



CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 



Jno. D. Imlay, Zauesville. O. — "A 

 Few Choice Seeds and Plants," 26th 

 Year. 



W. B. Longstreth, Gratiot, O.— 

 Longstreth's Seed Annual and Bargain 

 Catalog. 



John R. Box, Croydon, Eng.— An- 

 nual Garden Guide of Seeds, Begonias, 

 Bulbs. Sundries, etc. 



S. J. Galloway, Eaton. O. — ^Whole- 

 sale Price List of Hardy Herbaceous 

 Plants and Perennials, Spring, 1909. 



Friedr. C. Pomrencke, Altona, Ham- 

 burg.— Wholesale Price List of Flower 

 and Vegetable Seeds and Herbaceous 

 Plants. 



Schaum & Van Tol, "The Hansa 

 Nurseries," Boskoop, Holland. Whole- 

 sale Trade List of Nursery Stock 

 1909-1910. 



Thompson & Morgan, Ipswich, Eng. 

 —Catalogue of Choice Seeds for 1909. 

 Established .53 years. A compact and 

 very full list, without illustrations. 



V. Lemoine & Fils, Nancy, France. 

 — Catalogue for Spring and Summer 



1909. Always an interesting volume to 

 the garden enthusiast who likes to 

 keep Informed as to the new and 

 meritorious introductions for which 

 this house is noted. 



Portland Seed Co., Spokane, Wash., 

 and Portland, Ore.— Complete 1909 

 Catalogue. The half dozen depart- 

 ments in this catalogue are distin- 

 guished by being printed each on a 

 paper of different tint. The covers are 

 in red, green and white. 



Wood Brothers, Fishkill, New York. 

 — Trade List for January to May, 1909. 

 Plants and rooted cuttings of roses, 

 cannas, carnations, chrysanthemums, 

 geraniums, verbenas and a general col- 

 lection of bedding plants are listed at 

 attractive wholesale rates. 



Ellwanger & Barry, Rochester, N. Y. 

 — General Catalogue. As always a 

 finely illustrated and instructive list 

 of Fruit and Ornamental Trees, 

 Shrubs, Roses, Peonies and Hardy 

 Border Plants. Also Abridged List of 

 New and Noteworthy Varieties and an 

 excellent pamphlet on How to Have 

 Roses, by William C. Barry, reprinted 

 from The Country (tcntJciiHin. 



Sutton & Sons, Reading, England. — 

 Sutton's Amateur's Guide in Horticul- 

 ture for 1909. This publication is a 

 model of catalogue making just as the 

 seeds it lists are recognized as stan- 

 dard, the world over. It is a wide 

 volume of nearly 200 pages on heavy 

 paper, profusely illustrated with half- 

 tone cuts. The cover is robins egg 

 blue, bearing no imprint except the 

 royal arms in the centre of the front 

 cover and the autograph of Sutton & 

 Sons in silver. 



PRIMULA SEED 



PRIMULA CHINENSIS FIMBRIATA 



y, Tr. Pl<t. Tr. Pkt. 



Alba Magnifica »0.60 SI 00 



ChiBwick Red 00 100 



Holborn Blue 60 I.OO 



KermeBina Ssplendens .... 00 I.OO 



Rosy Morn 60 1.00 



Miciiell'H Prize Mixture, 



beaiilifully fringed varieties... 60 1.00 



PRIMULA OBGONIG& GRANDIFLORA 



Tr. Pkt. 



Compacia »0.60 



FimbrlBta(i-i6o2.,$i.J5) 50 



Gig«ntea(Arendsi) 80 



Kermeslna (i to oz. $1.50) 40 



Rosoa (1-1601., Si.ooJ 30 



■White (i-i6oz,,$i.J5) 30 



Mixed (i-8oz., $..00) 30 



Write for our Wholesale Catalogue, 



HENRY F. MIGHELL GO. 



1018 Market St., PHILA. 



