12 



HORTICULTURE 



July 4, 1903 



crippled, whereas a well worded, jus) and 

 •effective national law would doubtless 



serve as a model for state laws which 

 could easily be framed to conform to its 

 conditions and ihns restrict Interstate busi- 

 ness bn1 slightly, i feel confident thai na- 

 tional legislation to prevent the importa- 

 tion of seeds used solely as adulterants 

 and of low-grade seed contain Lug large per- 

 centages of weed seeds and to correct 

 other abuses in the trade is inevitable. It 

 is in line with the great projects for the 

 betterment of trade conditions and for the 

 •conservation of natural resources to which 

 the present administration at Washington 

 has practically committed the American 

 people. If we try to stop this tiood of 

 public opinion with our little dam, we shall 

 OLly find the water flowing over the top of 

 it and the whole works will go out with 

 much damage to ourselves and to others, 

 but if we work harmoniously with the peo- 

 ple at Washington for the improvement of 

 American agriculture, adding our practical 

 business experience to their technical and 

 legal knowledge and thus secure a just and 

 helpful law which will really tend toward 

 the planting of better seeds, we shall have 

 the consciousness of having worked for 

 progerss rather than against it. 



The Need of Proper Restraint. 



There is a feeling on the part of some of 

 our members that we are being discrimi- 

 nated agaiust unfairly in the attempt to 

 pass any law. When we consider the many 

 Abuses connected with some other lines of 

 business which the law has never at- 

 tempted to reach and the high average 

 standard of morality and business upright- 

 ness among seedsmen, this view is perhaps 

 a natural one, but I cannot altogether sym- 

 pathize with it. The fact that the pur- 

 chaser of seeds lias frequently no means of 

 knowing the real character of the goods 

 he Is buying is a temptation to the unscru- 

 pulous and the dishonest. It permits the 

 growth of mushroom competition which is 

 i\n injury to the honest seedsmen as well 

 as to the buyer of the unreliable goods. 

 We should welcome the opportunity to 

 place our business on a higher plane, to 

 eliminate dishonest competition and to 

 help to save the soil of our country from 

 the invasion of foreign weeds. We should 

 have enough patriotism to give our hearty 

 support to any measure which is really for 

 the general welfare and which does not 

 work au injustice to individuals. I am of 

 the opinion that our business can soon be 

 adjusted to a moderate and well considereu 

 law, which does not require us to do what 

 is manifestly impracticable, but which will 

 prevent the importation of seeds unfit for 

 seeding purposes and will also provide for 

 the punishment of deliberate and inten- 

 .tioiwil adulteration of seeds. 



Where the Mann Bill is Objectionable. 



The natural conditions attending the 

 [production of seeds— the tendency of 

 plants to depart from fixed types— the 

 production Of sports — cross fertilization o1 

 seeds— -the possibility of erroneous infor- 

 .mation from growers — should all be care- 

 fully considered in making a law holding 

 dealers responsible. The broad principal 

 of equity that fl n an should be held to 

 " f only for his own intentional mis- 

 deeds should be made part of any such. 

 daw. I have opposed the original Maun 

 Pure Seed Bill for the following principal 

 reasons: 



rust, it provides heavy fines and prison 

 [penalty for that maj and in prac- 



tice, undoubtedly would occur through 

 •errors or omissions of employes in im- 

 properly marking and packing or handling 

 thus making innoci nt men crimi- 

 ,nals in the eyes of the law. This i s ra- 

 nt to the American spin | of fa Lr 

 Second. The law does nol clearly pro- 

 vide for the exception from its provl 



■i seeds \\ hile in transit or held in stor 

 age for the purpose of cleaning or grading, 

 or while in pro > or grading 



or beld in storage after cleaning or grad- 

 ing, before being offered for seeding pur- 



Sucn exception is absolutely 

 sary to avoid complete disorganization o£ 

 existing methods of distributing and h 

 ling ' 



Third- 1 I provision of Section 3 



regarding the importation of seeds con- 

 taining dead seed would absolutely pro- 

 hibit the importation of many important 

 : ies of vegetable seed, « be Uesl ob- 

 tainable qualities of which in certain year- 

 contain ever 25 per cent, of dead e eds, 

 which cannot be removed bj any b 



-- of cleaning; the same fact applies 



seeds, nearly all 



grades of which contain naturally more or 



|% >H MIIHH l)|)IHHHH)ll|)i|HHHHHIMI<l%IHHHIIUH)|IIHIUKI M VWW 



"STOKES STANDARD" PANSY SEED 



Stokes ' Standard Mixed Pansy is the 



fin st strain of Giant Pansies it is possi- 

 ble to produce. It is a blend of all that 

 is finest in Pansies from France, England 

 and German). It is absolutel) unrivaled 

 in range of magnificent colors, size and 

 substance. Trade pkt. (2000 seeds) 50c; 



y% oz. 85c; yi. oz. $3.25; 1 oz. $6.00; 



' 4 lb. $20.00. 



Kingly Collection of Giant Pansies 

 Mixed. A most excellent strain, the 

 same as has been sold for years by the 

 late firm of Johnson and Stokes and has 

 given great satisfaction. Price, ]/ z trade 

 pkt. 3CC; trade pkt. (2000 seeds) 50c; 

 5000 seeds $1.00; per oz. $5.00; per 

 % lb. $14.00. 



Send for Special Pansy Circular 



FRENCH and DUTCH BULBS in season CET PRICES 



STOKES' SEED STORE, 2 1 9 Market St., Philadelphia, Pa. 



■MMtWMMfWMrWMrVlrMlftMMrMrMrMrWIrMWI^mArMia 



I 



less dead seeds, the percentage varying 

 with crop and harvest conditions where the 

 seeds are grown. 



Fourth. The fourth provision of Section 

 3 would practically prohibit the hulking of 

 various qualities of seeds, for the purpose 

 of making uniform grades, because man; 

 merchantable and valuable parcels of 

 seeds contain considerable percentages of 

 dead seed and weed seed, and no dealer 

 would feel safe under this section, as nun 

 worded, in bulking together a number of 

 parcels of natural seeds, since the addition 

 of a single bag of comparatively low vital- 

 ity or containing a comparatively large 

 percentage of weed seeds tnight be con- 

 strued to he adulteration, eveu though in 

 the process of cleaning the average quality 

 of the entire bulking of seed had been 

 greatly improved. This paragraph should 

 certainly provide a penalty only for de- 

 liberate adulteration with intent to de- 

 fraud the buyer. 



Filth. The bill undertakes to prohibit 

 the export of certain grades of seed for 

 which there is a demand abroad and it is 

 against public policy to restrict such ex- 

 port. Such a restriction would tend to 

 cause the exporter to select only the high- 

 est qualities for export and thus retain 

 the lower grades for domestic use. 



Sixth. The natural and inherent con- 

 ditions attending the production and dis- 

 tribution of grass, clover and field seeds 

 are so totally different from those attend- 

 ing the production and distribution of 

 vegetable and flower seeds and bulbs, that 

 I believe that these two classes of trade 

 should be separately provided for in any 

 well-considered legislation, either by means 

 of separate laws or separate paragraphs. 



It seems to me that it should be poss! 

 ble to eliminate the objections to this bill 

 and yet preserve its evident intent to 

 benefit American agriculture. 



Recommendations. 



It is urgently important that the sub- 

 ject nl seed legislation receive the best at 

 teutiou which it is in our power to give 

 it and in this connection, I strongly recom- 

 me d that the two standing committees on 

 Seed Legislation and on Seed Adulteration 

 lie consolidated into one committee. This 

 will avoid any question of divided authority 

 or responsibilty. I trust a strong com- 

 mitl 'i will be appointed and I think that 

 this committee should be authorized to 

 secure legal advice at any time when they 

 may deem it necessary, and that arrange 

 moots should be made, so that they could 

 draw upon some fund which would pro- 

 vide t n all necessary expense.- in connec- 

 tion with their work. I also recommend 

 that an earnest effort be made to 

 a joint conferenee of this committee with 

 representatives of the Committet Inter- 

 state and Foreign Commerce and experts 

 from the Department of Agriculture for 

 the purpose of working out a fair and just 

 law. In expressing a willingness to work 

 toward the making of a law for the regu- 

 lation of our business, it must be under- 

 stood that we unhesitatingly assert that 

 our trade now shows without such regula- 

 tion a high average standard of integrity. 

 Each year the average standard of quality 

 demanded by the buyer of seeds and sup- 

 plied by dealers tends toward improvement, 



Hess of any law. This improvement 

 results partially from an awakened intelli- 

 gence on the part of buyers, but very 



- also from the constant efforts of 

 dcnli s to improve the quality of the goids 



they offer for sale. This tendency will 

 persist and may safely be depeuded upon 

 to gradually correct all but the grosser 

 forms of fraud and misrepresentation. 

 Honor and Integrity Superior to Law. 



Perfection will not come because of the 

 passage of any law, but only as the 

 gradual and natural development of human 

 character and human needs. Criminal 

 law is made primarily "to hold the wretch 

 in order", and so far as possible it should 

 be confined to its legitimate province. It 

 is but a crude instrument at best to re- 

 place the honor and integrity among men 

 which make modern business possible. 

 Hence, we think that an untried law 

 covering a new field should only be aimed 

 at flagrant, wilful and deliberate wrong- 

 doing and should not contain provisions 

 tending to hamper and disorganize a 

 highly useful and neccessary business. 



In conclusion, I wish to express my sin- 

 cere appreciation of the able assistance 

 which has been given me during the past 

 year by many of the members of this 

 Association. I am grateful for the active 

 interest which has been shown by the 

 Executive Committee and for the efficient 

 team work of the committee and other 

 seedsmen who attended the hearing at 

 Washington. Differences of opinion have 

 naturally arisen, but they have been ad- 

 justed on the broad basis of consideration 

 for the general welfare of the organization. 

 With such a spirit, we may look forward 

 with confidence to the future usefulness of 

 our Association, not only as a means of 

 furthering our individual interests, but of 

 pi tiug the general welfare of Ameri- 

 can agricultnre. 



President-elect W. S. Woodruff. 



Watson S. Woodruff, the newly-elect- 

 ed president of the American Seed 

 Trade Association, was born at Orange, 

 Conn.. April S, 1869. His father. Stiles D. 

 Woodruff, was one of the pioneer seed 

 growers of Connecticut, starting in the 

 seed growing business on his return 

 from the Civil War in 1S65. He was 

 graduated from the New Haven High 

 School in 1889, shortly after which he 

 went actively into the seed business, as- 

 sociating- himself with his father, Stiles 



VEGETABLE PLANTS 



riRRtTP Waltefield. Early Flat Dutch 

 tADDAhfi Ear , y A1]head( EarIy Drumhead 



and other early varieties. Surehead, Late Flat 

 Dutch, and other late varieties at 20c per 100, 

 $1.00 per 1,000, $8.50 per 10 000. 



TOHATO Stone, Favorite, Paragon, etc., at 



v v 20c periO0i $1.00 per 1,000, $8.50 per 



10,000. Dwarf Stone and Champion, June Pink 



and Early Jewell at 40c per 100, $2.00 per 1,000. 



rPTFKV White Plume, Qiant Pascal, Gol. 

 * i.i.r, i» 1 Heart and otner varieties, 20c per 

 100, $1 00 per 1. 000, $8.50 per 10,000. 

 RFFT Eclipse, Crosby and Egyptian, 25c per 

 100, $1.25 per 1,000. Cash with order. 



.1! 



