July 24, 1909 



horticulture: 



109 



Seed Trade 



AMERICAN SEED TRADE ASSOCIA- 

 TION. 



Preslilent, J. C. Boblnson, Waterloo, 

 Neb.; li"irst Vice-President. M. H. Duryea, 

 New Torli: Second Vice-President, F. W. 

 Bolglano, Wasliingtou. D. C. ; Secretary- 

 Treasurer. C. !•:. Kendei, Cieveland, Ohio; 

 Assistant Secretary, Leonard H. Vaughan. 

 Chicago. 



WHOLESALE SEEDSMEN'S 



LEAGUE. 



F. W. Bruggerhof, Free.; Bumet Land- 

 reth, Sec'jr. 



The National Organization of Seed 



Analysts: Its Purpose and Scope. 



A paper read by E. H. Jenliins, President 

 of tlie Association, before the Ameri- 

 can Seed Trade Association. 



On December 31, 190S, representa- 

 tives from sixteen of the states, fi-om 

 Canada and from tlie United States De- 

 partment of Agi'iculture, met in Wasli- 

 irgton, D. C, and after discussion, 

 formed the Association of Official Seed 

 Analysts. 



While no formal declaration of pur- 

 poses was put on record, the discus- 

 sion indicated two objects tor the work 

 of this body; first, to improve and 

 unify the present methods of seed test- 

 ing and, second, to work for more uni- 

 form and satisfactory laws regulating 

 the sale of agricultural seeds. 



In brief, our aim regarding methods 

 of seed testing is to get uniform and 

 accurate methods and manipulation in 

 all seed-testing laboratories for fixing 

 the purity and vitality of commercial 

 seeds. Seed-testing is no new thing 

 with the Agricultural Stations in this 

 country. More or less of it lias been 

 dene at the Connecticut Agricultural 

 Station for more than thirty yeais.and 

 quite as much of it in the interest of 

 seed growers and dealers, as directly 

 for buyers of seeds. Other stations 

 have also engaged in such work. 



But this kind of work is now being 

 forced tipou the attention of all the 

 agricultural stations of the country by 

 the logic of events and from the side 

 of the retail purchaser. It follows as 

 a consequence of other kinds of control 

 work which state institutions are do- 

 ing. For example, fertilizers are now 

 sold only under a guaranty of compo- 

 sition; they are officially tested, and, 

 if they fail to meet iheir guaranties, 

 the buyer has some redress, or the 

 seller is more or less injured in his 

 business reputation. The same is true, 

 in a way, of cattle feeds, food prod- 

 ucts, and of drugs. 



It is ])lain that clean seed, true to 

 name and of good germinating power, 

 is more essential to the grower than 

 standard fertilizers. He has seen his 

 mowings seeded with pestilent weeds. 

 He has seen his clover fields overrun 

 with dodder and, in some cases, grow- 

 ing almost as much yellow trefoil as 

 clover. He has sown "orchard grass" 

 and got chess in part, and while these 

 utter disasters may not be very com- 

 mon, almost every farmer's own ex- 

 perience teaches him that he is not 

 sure of getting good seed and that 

 bad seed may do more serious and last- 

 ing damage than poor fertilizers. But 

 the seller offers him no assurance of 

 any kind regarding his seed. He reads 

 on his packages: "While we exercise 

 the greatest care to have all seeds pure 



UNEEDMETBERMUDA ONION SEED 



SEND CONTRACT ORDERS AT ONCE FOR 1910. -Don't Delay. -DO IT MOW. 



,,^'^,1*''^' ™>' "Customers say about me: — "More than pleased." "Your sliipmem reaciied us 

 hrst. ' We have splendid reports from the results of your Seeds." " Will give you ail of our future 

 business." " Germination is good." 



WHITE CRYSTAL WA.X : EARLIEST OF ALL White Bermuda: White end Red 



FEDERICO C. VARELA 



TENERIFFE (CANARY expert onion seed aRowER 



ISLANDS) ^^° EXPORTER 



sta.k:e:s 



We are Headquaiters for Plant Stakes of all kinds. We contract for enor- 

 mous quantities, and can quote special prices in large lots. 



NO. 1 STEEL WIRE, GALVANIZED NO. 8 STEEL WIRE, GALVANIZED 



3 



3% 



4 



4% 



5 



6 



foot 



I'er 100 

 ...$0.45 

 ... .55 

 ... .65 



.85 

 l.CO 

 1.10 

 1.20 

 1.30 



er lOOiJ 



$3.75 



4.50 



5.50 



6.25 



7.25 



8.10 



9.00 



10.50 



12.C0 



For 

 St 



O 



3 



4 



5 

 6 



tal; 

 rong 

 foot 



ing American Beauty and otlier 

 roses Per jqO Per 1000 



$0.55 



70 



.60 

 .95 

 1.10 

 1.25 

 1.40 

 1.60 

 2.00 

 2.25 



$5.25 

 6.50 

 7.50 

 9.U0 

 10.00 

 11.00 

 12.00 

 15.25 

 1T.50 

 19.75 



Write for our Midsummer Wholesale Catalogue. 



Henry F. Michell Co,, ioiiM!!li!!J!. Philadelphia, Pa, 



LEONARD SEED CO. 



contract growers and wholesale dealers 



BEARS, PEAS, SWEET CORN, ONION, GARDEN SEEDS 



rLo^E^RslEPs Get Our Prices 



E. KIMZIE STREET, CHIC ACQ 



and reliable, they are sold without 

 guaranty and without any responsibil- 

 ity, express or implied, in respect to 

 the crop." Neither regarding the pur- 

 ity, nor the vitality, nor the genuine- 

 ness of the goods he sells will the 

 dealer take any responsibility. This is 

 "caveat emptor" with a vengeance! 

 The farmer's crops are his livelihood, 

 but for his seed no one will be in any 

 degree responsible! 



Naturally, with his experience re- 

 garding fertilizers, cattle feeds and hu- 

 man food products, he turns to the sta- 

 tions. His only protection at present 

 is to have the quality of the seed which 

 is offered to him fi.xed, so far as may 

 be, by some impartial and competent 

 person, so that he may avoid what can 

 be clearly proved to. be inferior by 

 laboratory tests, and thus in some de- 

 gree protect himself. Perfect protection 

 he cannot get in this way. At present, 

 for instance, no one can surely distin- 

 guish for him the seeds of many agri- 

 cultural varieties or strains of the same 

 species. Nor can it be determined in 

 advance whether a given lot of seed 

 will yield strong, healthy plants, or 

 weaklings that can germinate but not 

 withstand the accidents of growth in 

 field culture. But it can be certainly 

 determined in almost all cases whether 

 the seed in question is of the species 

 named on the label, whether it is rela- 

 tively light or heavy seed, what per- 

 centage of foreign matter it contains, 

 what proportion of weed seeds and of 

 what kinds, and how much of the pure 

 seed is capable of germinating undei* 



the most favorable conditions. These 

 determinations are obviously of the 

 greatest value to the buyer. 



This work, as I have said, is forced 

 on some of us by the state of the 

 trade, the disasters of farmers and 

 their calls for assistance. We must 

 meet the demand and we must meet it 

 with skill and experience, with accu- 

 racy and uniformity of method and re- 

 sults. A leading purpose of our Asso- 

 ciation is to secure these things by co- 

 operation in study of the methods. I 

 may make this clearer from our ex- 

 perience in the examination of fertiliz- 

 ers. Twenty-five years ago there was 

 organized the Association of Official 

 Agiicultural Chemists, for the purpose 

 of securing this accuracy and uniform- 

 ity in the analysis of commercial fer- 

 lilizers. Af that time chemists were 

 following different methods, some of 

 them quite faulty, and in consequence 



Mum Canes 



What you want now 



7 to 8 ft. S7.00 1000 



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42 Vesey St., New York 



