August 24. 1918 



HORTICULTURE 



199 



SEED TRADE 



AMERICAN SEED TRADE ASSOCIATION 



Officers — President. F. W. Bolgiano, 

 Washington, D. C. ; First Vice-President, 

 Wm. G. Scarlett, Baltimore, Md. ; Second 

 Vice-President, David Burpee, Philadel- 

 phia. Pa.; Secretary-Treasurer, C. E, 

 Kendel, Cleveland, O. 



American Tomato Seed Desired in 

 Mazatlan 



(Consul W. E. Chapmau. Mazatlan, Sinaloa, 

 Mexico, July 1.) 



On page 1078 of Commerce Reports 

 for March 21, 1918, there appears a 

 report on tomato production in Mazat- 

 lan, in which reference is made to 

 losses due to inferior seed. As tliere 

 is yet time for American seedsmen to 

 collect good seed for export to this 

 section of Mexico, it is desired to draw 

 attention to the fact that tomato 

 growers are becoming interested in 

 the purchase of suitable seed for the 

 approaching planting season, which 

 begins the 1st of November. 



The local manager of a large house 

 interested in exporting tomatoes to 

 the United States is planning to make 

 a special trip thither to procure the 

 best possible tomato seed possible for 

 the planters whose tomatoes his 

 house handles. He states it is his pur- 

 pose to visit a few American seed 

 houses and lay his needs before them 

 while there is yet opportunity to col- 

 lect good seed from tomatoes pro- 

 duced in the United States this sum- 

 mer, so that he may be assured of an 

 adequate fresh supply of seeds. 



It is estimated that some 700 hec- 

 tares (1,730 acres) of land were de- 

 voted to tomato production last year; 

 and that, owing to the success of that 

 and the three prior crops which were 

 raised for export to the United States, 

 the area will be doubled this year. 

 Manifestly it will be in the interest of 

 American seedmen and of consumers 

 in the United States of the Mexican 

 west coast tomato crop — not only in 

 the present but in future years — to 

 take steps to collect good seed for ex- 

 port to this district. A trade in seed 

 can be established this year which 

 will be reasonably permanent and of 

 increasing importance, and advantage 

 should be taken of the opportunity 

 which now offers for this business. 



The American consul at Mazatlan, 

 Sinaloa, Mexico, will take pleasure In 

 supplying any interested American ex- 

 porters of seed with a list of tomato 

 growers in his district upon request; 

 but In his replies to their inquiries 

 will, in every case, insist upon good 

 seed being furnished where orders are 

 secured as a result of his efforts. 



PURITY FREESIA 



IMPROVED 



While it is doubtful whether Paper Whites or Dutch Bulbs will arrive 

 this season. The American Bulb Company has provided for an extra quan- 

 tity of PURITY FREESIA BULBS. 



Florists must have white flowers of sweet fragrance for funeral 

 work, for baskets, and for general flower bouquets. FREESIA PURITY 

 can be used and will easily take the place of Paper White Narcissus for 

 the various occasions. 



The FREESIA BULBS The American Bulb Company offers here were 

 grown in the open by the finest grower in California. Start right; avoid 

 buying bulbs that were forced in greenhouses or grown in lath houses. 



Prices for well cured bulbs, P. O. B. Chicago, are as follows (no charge 

 for packing) : 



Up to %-inch $6,00 per 1000 



Up to %-inch 9.50 per 1000 



Large Jumbo Bulbs 18.00 per 1000 



Mammoth Bulbs, over % to %-inch.. 15.00 per 1000 



AMERICAN BULB COMPANY 



172 North Wabash Avenue Phone Randolph 3316 CHICAGO 



Redtop Seed Situation. 



Reports received by the Seed Re- 

 porter indicate that the 1918 crop of 

 redtop seed will not be so large as 

 that of 1917. It is estimated gener- 

 ally that it will be about 50 to 60 per 

 cent, of the normal crop. In the red- 

 top section the dealers estimate their 

 carry-over to be about 33 cars, and 

 the carry-over by farmers to be two 

 cars, based on "fancy" seed, or a to- 

 tal of approximately 1,000,000 pounds. 

 The preliminary report on the survey 

 of July 1 stocks in dealers' hands in- 

 dicates a carry-over for the United 

 States on July 1 of over 11,000,000 

 pounds,, of which approximately 8,000,- 

 000 pounds is reported by dealers and 

 shippers from Division Four, which 

 includes the redtop producing section. 

 These latter figures, however, may be 

 somewhat incomplete as indicated in 

 connection with the table published 

 in this issue. 



Reports from some scattered sec- 

 tions indicate that there has been 

 some injury to the crop by hot 

 weather, and that some of the seed 

 will be "blasted.'' The quality of the 

 seed generally, however, will be good 

 and comparatively free from weeds, 

 though possibly somewhat lighter In 

 weight than that of 1917. The aver- 

 age yield is estimated at approxi- 

 mately 45 to 50 pounds per acre of 

 "fancy" seed. 



Only a small quantity of seed has 

 been threshed. It is thought that the 

 threshing of redtop seed will be con- 

 siderably delayed because of the 

 large crops of small grain to be han- 

 dled, which will be threshed before 

 the redtop. Nearly all of the redtop 

 for seed has been cut and is now in 

 stacks. 



A few purchases from farmers have 

 been made at approximately 12 cents 

 a pound. Some dealers are inclined 

 to think that lower prices will prevail 

 later, while others believe that this 

 price will remain firm. In some local- 

 ities farmers have begun to form co- 

 operative organizations to enable 

 them to market their seed to better 



advantage. A few sales of new crop 

 seed have been made by jobbers at 13 

 cents a pound for "number 1 fancy." 

 Old crop seed is being quoted at about 

 one-half cent a pound less. 



It is too early to know what the 

 movement of redtop seed will be. 

 Some believe that the increased cost 

 of threshing will have a tendency to 

 reduce the amount of redtop that will 

 be threshed for seed unless a good 

 price prevails. 



The redtop section of Illinois is be- 

 coming more extended, especially 

 south and southwest of the original 

 district. Some new shippers and 

 cleaners have engaged in the busi- 

 ness during the last few years. 



New England Crop Report. 



While July was hot on many days 

 and became severely dry in some 

 sections the outlook for crops as a 

 whole is quite good. Hot, dry weath- 

 er and aphis and the new blight 

 "Phoma" have heavily damaged po- 

 tatoes in Rhode Island, in parts of 

 Connecticut, Massachusetts, and some 

 blight is reported elsewhere. The un- 

 favorable season makes corn a rather 

 poor prospect, there being many fields 

 of very poor stands and little corn. 

 The grain crops are in excellent con- 

 dition, although oats have lodged 

 somewhat. The fields of wheat which 

 one sees over New England, small 

 though most of them are, are an in- 

 teresting and reassuring sight. With 

 present conditions and prices the 

 farmers here can afford to grow wheat 

 and the present outlook is that New 

 England will have about 900,000 

 bushels this season — enough to help 

 out substantially. The apple, pear and 

 plum crops are generally light. Bald- 

 win orchards and some other varie- 

 ties were heavily damaged by low 

 winter temperatures, and many trees 

 have already died. Still others are 

 partially dead and will be entirely 

 so next year. Peaches are almost a 

 complete failure, but blueberries are 

 abundant generally. 



