December 21, 1918 



HORTICULTURE 



611 



SEED TRADE 



AMBRIGAN SEED TRADE ASSOCIATION 



Offloers — Pregldent, F. W. Boleiano, 

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

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

 Vice-President, David Burpee, Philadel- 

 phia, Pa.; Secretary-Treasurer, O. K. 

 Kendel, Clrreland, O. 



Seed Marketing Investigations. 



Through investigations directed by 

 Mr. W. A. Wheeler, who is also in 

 charge o£ the emergency Seed Report- 

 ing Service, and owing to the facilities 

 available for the conduct of the Seed 

 Reporting Service, it has been pos- 

 sible, the Agricultural Department ad- 

 vises, to obtain information regarding 

 the economic phases of seed market- 

 ing which could otherwise not have 

 been secured. 



The transactions in clover seed for 

 the period of a month at the leading 

 markets for that commodity were ex- 

 amined to determine what effect, if 

 any, speculation had on the price of 

 red clover seed in February, 1918. It 

 is thought that this work, taken in 

 conjunction with the publication of 

 figures showing the stocks of clover 

 seed that were being held for export 

 to foreign countries, had a material 

 effect in lowering the price of red 

 clover seed to farmers at a time when 

 it seemed that it would soar above 

 the record of $21 per bushel on Feb- 

 ruary 13, 1918. 



Samples of country-run seed were 

 obtained from different sections of the 

 country and comparisons of these 

 samples indicate that prices of coun- 

 try-run seed in various producing 

 areas vary considerably. 



Copies of contracts entered into be- 

 tween small seed growers and large 

 commercial seed growers, and between 

 the latter and wholesale and retail 

 seedsmen, have been obtained and ex- 

 amined in order to detect any unfair 

 practices existing. 



Field seed prices, as quoted at sev- 

 eral of the most important markets, 

 have been tabulated to determine, if 

 possible, the differences in price pre- 

 vailing at such markets, and investi- 

 gations have been made to determine 

 what might, under ordinary condi- 

 tions, be considered reasonable differ- 

 ences in wholesale and retail prices 

 of seeds. Inquiries have been made 

 to ascertain the time at which various 

 kinds of seed begin to move from 

 growers' hands to dealers' hands, 

 when the "movement is general, and 

 when it is normally at an end. In- 

 quiries also have been made to learn 

 what percentage of growers sell seed 



''Seeds with a Lineage" All Varietieft 



Tlsorou^ly tested at our trial grounds, Ra3m«s 

 Ptoirk, London, Eln^and. Send for Cc^alogue 



CARTERS TESTED SEEDS, Inc., 



166 Ckanber of 

 •c* BId(.,Bott«B, Hu*. 



and whether they sell to the local 

 buyer, to the traveling buyer, by cor- 

 respondence with distant seedsmen, 

 by advance growing contracts with 

 commercial seed growers, through lo- 

 cal or farm paper advertising, or di- 

 direct to neighbors. 



Pepper and Eggplant Harvest of Isle 

 of Pines. 



(Consul W. Bardel, Nueva Gerona, Isle of 

 Pines, Cuba, Nov. 15) 



The harvesting of peppers and egg- 

 plants, the two products next in im- 

 portance to grapefruit cultivated prin- 

 cipally by Americans on this island, is 

 now under way, and the first ship- 

 ment of the season to the United 

 States will soon be made. 



Exports this winter will probably 

 not exceed 4,000 crates for both vege- 

 tables, against about 1,000 crates of 

 last year and 55,000 for the winter 

 of 1916-17. The reason for this ex- 

 pected small export as compared with 

 that of two years ago lies principally 

 in the fact that fertilizers are now so 

 expensive that they cannot be used 

 for crops of this kind. Restrictions 

 on shipping and the refusal of navi- 

 gation companies to accept such 

 products for transportation except up- 

 on payment in advance of the freight 

 are other factors affecting the situa- 

 tion. 



When last year the transportation 

 restrictions became such that, of a 

 crop of large dimensions, only l.ni 

 crates could be exported, the farmers 

 concluded to cultivate other and more 

 profitable products this fall for the 

 home market. 



Were it not for these reasons, the 

 1918-19 crop of the two vegetables 

 would probably have exceeded even 

 that of two years ago, for climatic 

 conditions were exceptionally favor- 

 able for a large harvest. 



^wmmmMMJttUi/.^PA'-jBEK 



BULBS 



16obbington'8 



128 Chambers St., N. Y. City 



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Boston — Dr. L. H. Bailey, Ithaca, N. 

 Y. 



Philadelphia— John J. Perry, mgr.. 

 Baltimore store of S. S. Pennock Co.; 

 T. Malbranc, Johnstown, Pa. 



Cincinnati, 0.— S. F. Purliant, Win- 

 chester, Ky., J. W. Rodgers and 0. 

 Reiniger, Dayton, 0., G. A. Beckmann, 

 .los. R. Goldman and Mr. Burns, Mid- 

 dletown, Ohio; Fred Rupp, Lawrence- 

 berg, Ind.; C. P. Brunner, Springfield, 

 Ohio; J. T. Herdingen, Aurora, Ind.; 

 Milton Alexander, New York City 



Chicago, 111. — Miss Kate Harris, 

 Memphis, Tenn.; E. G. Hill, Rich- 

 mond, Ind.; Julius Lehman, Sioux 

 City, Iowa; B. F. Siebrecht, Aberdeen, 

 S. D. ; H. B. Lozier, Des Moines la.; 

 J. J. Higgins, Toronto, Can.; A. 

 Bauscher, Freeport, 111.; M. Roehlin, 

 Sioux City, la.; Ova Gnatt, La Porte. 

 Ind.; C. L. W. Snyder, El Paso, 111.; 

 Thos. Heaven, Benton Harbor, Mich.; 

 Miss Rennison, Sioux City, la.; J. E. 

 Terrill, Lethbridge, Can.; Paul Pales, 

 Little Rock, Ark.; G. P. WeakUn, 

 Pittsburgh. 



