446 



HORTICULTURE 



April 4, 1908 



Seed Trade 



The bill now before Congress in the 

 interests of pure seeds seems lo be 

 attempting the impossible. Absolute 

 purity is something unattainable as to 

 any inert matter and in the case ot 

 grass seed, any natural grasses that 

 might spring up spontaneously from 

 the soil might produce seeds so nearly 

 like the variety to be harvested as to 

 make it next to impossible to separate 

 them. For this reason it looks very 

 much as if this bill is so drastic in its 

 character as to defeat its purpose. 



A law that is impossible of enforce- 

 ment manifestly cannot be enforced, 

 and therefore the tramers ot this par- 

 ticular measure have rather over- 

 reached themselves. It seems that cer- 

 tain so-called experts from the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture were before the 

 committee which was framing this 

 bill, presumably for expert advice, but 

 with the exception of Professor \V. W. 

 Tracy, not one of the number has ever 

 had any practical experience in the 

 seed business and not one would be 

 employed by a practical seedsman in 

 the capacity of an expert adviser. The 

 real seedsmen who could have given 

 practical information were not called, 

 but the so-called professors and the- 

 orists of the Department were the ones 

 who were asked to advise in the fram- 

 ing of measures to regulate the seed 

 business. 



It is quite safe to say that not any 

 important industry could be attacked 

 as the seed business has been in Con- 

 gress without someone of the members 

 rising in defense of its interests, yet 

 the seed business, important as it is, 

 had not one friend in the House and 

 it may truly be asked, "was there none 

 so poor as to do him (it) honor?" 

 Undoubtedly the explanation of this 

 condition of things is due to the fact 

 that the seedsmen are politically a neg- 

 ligible quantity and do not have to be 

 reckoned with by Congressmen who 

 choose to make footballs of their in- 

 terests. This is an unfortunate con- 

 dition ot affairs but'there is apparently 

 no remedy for it and all the seedsmen 

 can hope for is to appeal to their Sena- 

 tors and Representatives for justice 

 and show them, if they are willing to 

 be shown, the unreasonableness and 

 injustice of hostile legislation. 



While this measure is uudoubtedly 

 aimed especially at grass seed dealers, 

 as now worded it necessarily affects all 

 seeds and as it is ostensibly in the in- 

 terests ot the farmers, it may be well 

 to show those Congressmen who take 

 such a paternal interest in our agricul- 

 tural communities, that in the last ana- 

 lysis the farmer will be the man to suf- 

 fer more than the seedsman. The for- 

 mer aie the men who grow the seed 

 and sell it to the seedsmen and it the 

 bill under consideration should become 

 a law more than 90 per cent, of the 

 grass seed produced would be unsala- 

 ble as no seedsman could buy them 

 without risk of incurring the penalties 

 prescribed in the bill. 



Doubtless the .grass seed dealers have 



not been as careful about handling 



adulterated seed as they should have 



been and have possibly invited the 



proposed restriction; however, they 



MUSHROOM SPAWN 



Michell's English Brand 



Used by the leadinij growers on account of its superior quality. .'^PECI.M. 

 PKIcri KOR THIS WRF.K ONi.v: 12 bricks $ 1 .40; 100 lbs. $5; 1000 lb«. $47.50. 



A POINTER »» — >- 5pawn inserted under the sod in lawns ard pastures in spring: 

 will slve a good crop after the fall rains— at almost no expense. 



Send for our culture circul.ir. Also .Spring Wholesale Caialogue ot seeds, ttc. 



HENRY F. MICHELL COMPANY 



IOI6 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 



should have seen in measures enacted 

 in the past, the trend of events and 

 "the handwriting on the wall." 



Of course unless the bill is modified 

 it would never be enforcible and per- 

 haps it might be just as well to permit 

 it to go through Congress and become 

 a law to show our more or less wise 

 solons that in their zeal to aid the 

 farmers they have overdone the busi- 

 ness. 



Some time ago it was stated in these 

 columns that it looked very much as 

 if Congress would in time pass laws 

 regulating the entire seed trade and 

 this statement was ridiculed by many. 

 The proposed measure seems to be a 

 long step in the direction of govern- 

 ment supervision of the seed business 

 and it is difficult to see how it can 

 be interpreted in any other way. This 

 matter will be discussed further in sub- 

 sequent issues of HORTICULTURE. 



This is the busy time for the retail 

 seedsmen and all over the country 

 night work is going on in an effort to 

 keep up with the accumulating busi- 

 ness. It is to be hoped that the pres- 

 ent activity will continue for the next 

 sixty days at least and, if so, the trade 

 will undoubtedly have had one of the 

 most prosperous years in its history. 



Many items are becoming exhaustea 

 but it is not quite true as stated in 

 some publications that such varieties 

 of seed corn as Stowell's Evergreen 

 and Country Gentleman are scarcely 

 obtainable at any price; as a matter 

 of fact these items are offered more 

 freely now than two or three months 

 ago. From about the first of February 

 the activity in these lines began to 

 decline and prices to weaken and either 

 of these varieties can now be bought 

 at from $1 to $2 per bushel less than 

 on February 1. There is more real 

 scarcity in the early varieties than in 

 the late ones. Good field corn such as 

 Learning, Pride of the North, Long- 

 fellow and Sanford. are very scarce 

 and in some sections these varieties 

 or some of them at least, are selling 

 as high as ?2.50 per bushel with the 

 prediction that they will reach $3.00. 

 All of the yellow flint varieties are in 

 very short supply and prices are ruling 

 unusuallv high. 



C. C. Morse & Co. are authority 

 for the statement that the California 

 Seed Growers' Co., recently organized 

 at Gilroy, Cal., has been dissolved, by 

 agreement. Ah Him, their Chinese 

 foreman who organized the company, 

 has withdrawn from it and returned 

 to China the 24th ult. for a prolonged 

 visit. 



PLANT IMPORTS. 



There were entered at the port of 

 New York during the week March S.'ith 

 to March 31st, inclusive, the following 

 goods: 



From Rotterdam: Amermann & 

 Patterson, 4 cs. plants, 3 cs. trees; H. 

 P. Darrow, oS cs. plants; Wm. Elliott 

 & Sons, 16 cs. do., 6 cs. trees; Henry 

 & Lee, 37 cs. bulbs; McHutchison & 

 Co., 6fi cs. plants, 6 cs. trees; Maltus 

 & Ware, 280 cs. plants, etc.; P. Ouwer- 

 kerk, 54 cs. trees; Palisades Nurseries, 

 1.5 cs. plants; F. R. Pierson & Co., 15 

 cs. trees; C. E. Richard & Co., 33S cs. 

 plants; Stumpp & Walter Co., 3 cs. 

 trees; .1. M. Thorburn & Co., 6 cs. seed; 

 Vaughan's Seed Store, 2 cs. do.; 15 cs. 

 plants: Forwarders, 9 cs. do., 1 cs. 

 bulbs. 



From Antwerp: H. P. Darrow, 1 cs. 

 bulbs; Maltus & Ware, 80 pgs. trees; 

 Sundry Forwarders, 24 cs. plants, SS 

 pgs. trees, 1 cs. bulbs, 6 ttibs laurel 

 trees. 



Via Glasgow: J. S. Bartle, 57 bags 

 grass seed; Forwarders, 10 pgs. plants. 



Via Southampton: C. C. Abel, 27 

 cs. plants; Amermann & Patterson, 6 

 cs. do.; Herman & Patterson, 21 cs. 

 do.: August Rolker & Sons. 25 cs. do., 

 1 bale do.; Sundry Forwarders, 4 cs. 

 do.. 4 cs. plants and trees. 



Via Liverpool: McHutchison & Co.. 

 1 cs. trees; Maltus & Ware, 4 cs. do.; 

 20 bis. do.: H. S. Peart, 1 cs. fruit 

 trees; Forwarders. 4 bis. plants. 



From Germany: McHutchison & 

 Co., 22 bdls. trees, 8 pgs. do.; Chas. 

 F. Meyer. 1 cs. plants; August Rolker 

 & Sons, 5 cs. do.; ,T. M. Thorburn & 

 Co., 9 bis. seed: Vaughan's Seed Store. 

 1 cs. plants; Forwarders, 1 cs. trees, 13 

 baskets do.; To Order, 19 pgs plants. 



Horticultural Products 



W. ELLIOTT & SONS, ^^"Ew'ViRK 



