;tis 



HORTICULTURE 



March 30, 1918 



n 



SEED TRADE 



ameru:a> seed tkauk vssociation 



ORlcvr* — rrr«lilpnt, F. \V. linlflano, 

 W«>hlnil<in. DC: riril \ Ir-i- I'rr^Ulrat, 

 Mm. It Hiarlrlt. Italtlmnrr. SH.; Kt-rvDd 

 \ Irr-I'rraldrnl. I>«>l<l lltjr|M«, I'hllMlcl- 

 plilA. r«.; KrrrrtNry-Trr^jiurer, O. B. 

 kendrl. l'lr<rlaotl, U. 



About Beans. 

 Navy Beiak Seed. 



Because of the early frost of 1917 

 and the weather during October and 

 November which was not good for dry- 

 ing, a large portion of the navy bean 

 crop in Michigan and New York con- 

 tains an excessive amount of moisture. 

 This fact has been fully recognized by 

 elevator and warehouse men as well 

 ag by the United States Food Adminis- 

 tration. 



While It is known that considerable 

 quantities of beans matured before the 

 frost, it is not known what percentage 

 of the general market crop was suffi- 

 ciently mature to withstand the subse- 

 quent severe weather, and consequent- 

 ly it is impossible at this time to say 

 how much navy bean seed of satisfac- 

 tory germination will be available for 

 planting. The Department of Agricul- 

 ture wishes to urge every seedsman, 

 elevator man and warehouseman who 

 Is handling beans for seed purposes, 

 whether in large or small quantities, 

 to make a germination test of his 

 stock at once and sell the beans ac- 

 companied by a tag showing the per- 

 centage of germination upon a given 

 date, together with the name of the 

 State where the beans were grown. 

 The Department further believes that 

 It is desirable that all seedsmen, ele- 

 vator men, and warehousemen urge 

 the farmers with whom they come in 

 contact to make germination tests of 

 any navy beans that they are holding 

 for seed. 



Seed Velvet Beans. 

 Owing to the higher price being paid 

 by the mills for beans in the pod, and 

 the Increased cost of bags and labor, 

 seed beans of the Alabama and 

 Georgia varieties (known locally as 

 " Early Speckled," " Hundred-day 

 Speckled." "Early Ninety-day," etc.) 

 are selling at this time at $1.65 to $2.00 

 per bushel, f. o. b. shipping point. This 

 is 40 cents to 75 cents per bushel high- 

 er than was being received by ship- 

 pers at a corresponding time last sea- 

 son. The Osceola variety is selling at 

 $3.00 per bushel f. o. b. shipping point, 

 which is about the same as last sea- 

 son's price at this time. Although 

 there is an increased quantity of this 

 variety available for seed, there has 

 been a corresponding increase in de- 

 mand which has served to stabilize 

 prices. Shipments of seed velvet 

 beans up to this time are about the 

 same as for last season and a much 

 heavier movement is anticipated dur- 

 ing March and April as the planting 

 season approaches. 



— Seed Reporter. 



Seed at Fair Prices. 

 The following extracts from a state- 

 ment issued last week jointly by the 

 U. S. Department of .-^CTiculture and 



the Food .AdmlnlHtration hIiow the at- 

 titude of the federal government in 

 the niutli-r of the nation's seed slocks 

 and prevailing prices. 



lliiiii PitK fx FoMTKK Use of Pook Seed. 

 "The need for increased crop pro- 

 duction Is obvious and without ade- 

 quate distribution of seed at reason- 

 able prices, there is danger that acre- 

 age will be lessened and that seed of 

 poor quality will frequently be used." 



Pbicks Inckease in Some Caseb May 

 Be W a khan ted. 

 "The supply of many kinds of seeds 

 Is not as large as is desirable and in 

 view of this fact as well as because of 

 the increased cost of conducting busi- 

 ness, some increase In the price of cer- 

 tain seeds may be warranted. This, 

 however, does not Justify anyone in 

 taking selfisli advantage of the oppor- 

 tunity to the detriment of the coun- 

 try." 



WiLF. Deal With SrEccLATOBS. 

 "Speculators in seed stocks Is es- 

 pecially to be deprecated in this hour 

 of need and if participated In l)y deal- 

 ers under federal license for the con- 

 duct of their business will be dealt 

 with accordingly." 



Dealers Now Unde:b License. 

 "All wholesale seed dealers and 

 those retail dealers in seeds doing an- 

 nual business of $100,000 or over, who 

 handle peas, beans, cottonseed and 

 corn are now operating under license 

 from the Food Administration." 



WiLi. Investioate Extortionate 

 Prices. 

 "Instances have been cited to the 

 Department where others have been 

 taking advantage of the present situa- 

 tion by charging exorbitant prices for 

 seed. Upon receipt of specific infor- 

 mation of extortionate prices being 

 charged for seeds, such cases will be 

 investigated and recommendations 

 made for such action as the conditions 

 require." 



Commends Those Pi'ttinq Patriotism 

 Before Price. 

 "Several State seed growers' asso- 

 ciations have voluntarily agreed to 

 handle their seed with due regard to 

 the public welfare by charging only a 

 reasonable price for them, although 

 doubtless the demand for seeds would 

 permit much higher prices. Such pa- 

 triotic action Is to be commended." 



American Seed Trade Association 

 Co-operates. 



"The War Service Committee of the 

 American Seed Trade Association also 

 has passed a resolution in which this 

 committee agrees to 'co-operate in de- 

 nouncing unreasonable and excessive 

 profits or in taking other necessary 

 steps.' " 



Farmers Agree to $5.00 Seed Corn. 



An example of the spirit which will 

 go far toward insuring a bountiful har- 

 vest is the action of the Missouri Corn 

 Growers' Association. The members 

 unanimously pledged themselves to 

 test every ear planted for the 1918 crop 

 and not to ask more than $5.00 per 

 bushel for selected tested seed corn. 

 Although many of the men who voted 

 for this resolution had been offered as 

 high as $10 per bushel for tested seed. 



they declared that $5 a bushi-l shall be 

 considered a Just and equitable price 

 for pure bred seed corn of standard 

 strains. The resolution does not ap 

 ply to specially bred varieties. 



Seed Corn Situation IIeqardeu with 

 Alarm. 



At the same time the seed corn sit- 

 uation in Oliio looms up with Increase 

 Ing gravity, humlreds of reports 

 reaching the Agricultural College Ex- 

 tension Service at Colujubus from all 

 parts of the state showing that corn 

 of the 1917 crop Is failing to germinate 

 satisfactorily, and that old corn is 

 scarce. An average of the 4.500 tests 

 conducted by the pupils and school 

 teachers in all parts of the state shows 

 that but 31 per cent of the corn will 

 germinate. Much of this corn even is 

 held to be better than the average, as 

 most of the pupils selected the very 

 best samples obtainable for testing, 

 rather than the average. 



Curtailing Imports. 

 The daily papers give notice of the 

 prohibition issued by the War Trade 

 Hoard on March 22d against some 

 eighty-two commodities, among them 

 "All plants, trees, shrubs, vines." This 

 revokes automatically any previously 

 granted license and presumably the 

 last foreign shipments allowed to come 

 In will be those that left previous to 

 .\pril 15th. In how far this edict may 

 be later on modified is hard to foresee. 

 It will not be surprising if all flower- 

 ing bulbs should be added very soon. 



Transportation. 

 The Director General has issued an 

 order No. C. C. l.\ on March 25th ex- 

 empting seeds and nursery stock un- 

 der certain conditions from embnr- 

 goes and directing that no embargoes 

 shall be made by the carriers except 

 and until expressly authorized by the 



Horticultural Books 



lor Suh- by 

 IIORTICl LTIUE riKLISHING CO. 



C'liryHanthenium Munuul. Elmer 



D Smltli 90.50 



The C h ry Bant hem um. Herrtufif- 



ton JW 



Commercial Carnation Culture. 



Dirk 1.60 



Commerrlnl Rose Culture. 



UohiHS 1.50 



Violet Culture. Galloway 1.50 



<;r('eiilii>UHe Cnuht ruction. Taft.. 1.50 

 ^uc^-t I'l'iis u|> to Dftte. Korr... 1.60 

 I '1)1 lit rropHRiitlnn, (ireenhouHe 



anil Niirnt-ry I'nu'tice. KaiDS.. 1.50 



riiint I'runinc. Ka[n8 1.50 



Itook of (mrilcn IMans. Ilamblln. 2 00 



l.4in<Jhcape I>eHif;n. Iliihbard 6.00 



The Art of Outtloor KoHe Grow- 



ing. Tliomaa 4.00 



The Home Vegetable Garden, 



Knihin I.OO 



\ eeelable Gardening' R. L. 



WattH 1.75 



I'urhonH on The Rose 1.00 



J'rincIpU'N of I-loricnlture. E. A. 



WMt»' 1.75 



FoiinflatioHN of .American Grape 



< niturt'. Munaon 2.00 



1'liint .MnlcrialH of DeeoratiTe 



<)unleniiiK. Trelease 1.00 



Ari)i*to<'ratH of the Garden. Wll- 



Hon 5.00 



Bailey 'h Cyclopedia of Horticul- 

 ture. 6 volumes 36.00 



