II O KTI C U LTU UK 



June 29, ISUK 



AMERICA!* SBBD TKADE ASSOCIATION 



omrrr* — rrr.lilrnt. F. W. Ilolclaoo, 

 MaahlngtoD. H. «'.; Klr«C VI<»-IT«^ld»fit, 

 « m. U. MrarlcU. Itoltlniorc. Md. : Heeond 

 Mc>r-ITr«lilrnt. Il«»lil Hurix*. rhlUdfU- 

 pblK, I'*.: Krrrrtmrx-Tnssarax, O. ~ 

 K«ndrl, CIrtrUnd, O. 



_JI 



American Seed Tr.ide Association. 



The seedsmen's convention held in 

 C'hU-HCo last week represented more 

 seed firms than any of its predeces- 

 sors. There have been other conven- 

 tions of its Ivind that have been as 

 largely attended, and some that have 

 n'fislered more, but according to one 

 of itb oldest and most prominent mem- 

 bers there were the names of more 

 firms on the register this year than 

 ever before. This Indicates that the 

 seed trade Is fully alive to the unusual 

 conditions of the times and would 

 profit by the intercbanBe of ideas. 



The first business on Tuesday morn- 

 ing was the president's address, which 

 we published in full in our last week's 

 issue, as well as the secretary-treas- 

 urer's report. 



\V. F. Therkildson. chairman of the 

 committee on postal laws, presented 

 his report, which was accepted. 



W. A. Wheeler of the bureau of 

 markets of the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture delivered an ad- 

 dress ou "Seed Reporting as a Public 

 Service." 



L. L. Olds, chairman of the com- 

 mittee on experiment stations, pre- 

 sented an elaborate report which was 

 the joint work of the entire committee 

 covering their several territories. 



Secretary Kendel read a paper from 

 Dr. W. \V. Tracey of U. S. Department 

 of Agriculture. "Persistent Varietel 

 Character in Garden Vegetables." and 

 AV. R. Beattie, extension horticultur- 

 ist of the same department, spoke on 

 "The Home Garden as a Means of In- 

 creasing the Food Supply." A. K. 

 Ovrieu of the .Agricultural Publishers' 

 Asso<jiation of Chicago addressed the 

 convention on "Community Building 

 in War Times." 



.At the Wednesday morning's ses- 

 sion various rei)orts were received as 

 well as the report from counsel Curtis 

 Nye Smith. The local seedsmen en- 

 tertained the visitors at luncheon at 

 the Hotel Sherman at 1 p. m. 



The reelertion of the old officers 

 shows the confidence of the associa- 

 tion in them and the wisdom of the 

 old adage not to change horses in the 

 middle of the stream. 



John Leonard, of the Leonard Seed 

 Co.. had the social affairs of the con- 

 \ention in charge and handler! them 

 with his usual efficiency. The annual 

 banquet was held on Thursday even- 

 ing, when seedsmen and their wives 

 to the number of 243 sat down to- 

 gether and did full justice to the 

 dinner without the harrowing fear of 

 bein.R called ut-on for a speech, for 



thi'i convcntliin pliued Itself on record 

 fm duiiiK its talking In the convention 

 rncni. Music and nn eiitertuiner gave 

 p'eiily of enjnymciit to all. Over 60 

 indies were the giiests of the Assoclu- 

 tiiMi at u lunrheim served In the tea 

 loon, at .Mar.^ball Field's, and 7.'> ladles 

 rtlt nded the theatre party and wlt- 

 iiesied "Friendly KnemleB" at Wood's 

 Theatre, also by the oiurle^s and i;i-ii- 

 eroFlty of the Association 



Wholesale Grass Seed Dealers' As- 

 sociation. 



The Wholesale Grass Seed Dealers' 

 .Association held their annual meeting 

 on June 17. Three new members 

 were admitted to the association: 

 Canada Seed Company, Ltd., Toron- 

 to; Rudy-Patrick Seed Company, Kan- 

 sas City, .Mo.; Mangelsdorf Seed 

 Company, Atchison, Kan. 



The present officers: A. E. Rey- 

 nolds, president: Chas. C. Massey, 

 vice-president; W. R. Jossman, sec- 

 retary and treasurer were re-elected. 



The by-laws were amended giving 

 the president the privilege of appoint- 

 ing each year one honorary member 

 of the association. For this year's 

 a| pointment Albert Dickinson was se- 

 lected. 



Vegetable Seed Crop Conditions in the 

 West. 



California Conditions — Reports from 

 California seed growers show that veg- 

 etable seed crops on the whole are 

 suffering from a lack of moisture 

 which has been deficient during the 

 winter and spring in many sections. 



Several seed growers estimate from 

 present prospects that their deliver- 

 ies will be as follows, and add that 

 some crops are in such a critical con- 

 dition that an accurate estimate is im- 

 possible: 



I.pl I IK-.- 45% to 60% 



Oiilmi 60% to 7.1% 



Bwt 75% to 85% 



Salsify 50% to 60% 



Kailish 30% to 45% 



Carrot 65% to 85% 



Celpr.v 8.'>% to 115% 



Kinlivp 75% to 95% 



Spinach 40% to 70% 



Beet — Beets are in good condition 

 and the prospects are that an average 

 crop of seed will be harvested. 



Carrot — Indications are that carrot 

 seed will be a fair crop this year. 

 W'hile the prospects are not good for a 

 large yield per acre, it is believed the 

 increased acreage planted to this crop 

 will bring the total production up to 

 nearly normal. 



Celery — The prospects are for a 

 good to normal crop of celery seed. 

 Some growers state that White Plume 

 will be a short crop with them. 



Celeriac — Celeriac is in good condi- 

 tion. 



Endive— Indications are that endive 

 will be a short crop in most sections. 



Lettuce — Reports of damage to this 

 crop combined with late planting are 

 general. Practically all growers be- 

 lieve the crop will be light and some 

 say that certain varieties will be a 

 total failure. 



Leek — Reports from both cen'ral 

 and southern California indicate a 

 normal crop of leek seed. All reports 



received slate this crop to be In good 

 cimditioo. 



Onion — One-half the reports re- 

 ceived stale that a fair crop of onion 

 seed Is In prospect and the other half 

 Rtnte that the crop Is uncertain. 



Parsley Only two reports were re- 

 celveil on this crop, one IndlcatInK a 

 complete failure and the other sUitInK 

 the <-rop was very backward and pros- 

 pi'cls jioor. 



Parsnip — Conditions are not encour- 

 aging for a satisfactory yield of pars- 

 nip seed. 



Hadlsh- DecauMc of late planting 

 most growers expect a very unsatis- 

 factory crop of radish seed. While In 

 many sections the crop is looking well, 

 the prospects at present Indicate that 

 warm weather will force the blooming 

 period. 



Salsify — All reports Indicate that 

 salsify will be one of the short crops 

 this year. 



Spinach— Two-thirds of the reports 

 say that the si)lnach crop is In good 

 condition and that a normal yield may 

 be expected, while one-third of the 

 growers reporting say the crop Is In 

 fair condition 



North Pacific Seed-Growing Areas. 



Reports Indicate that vegetable-seed 

 crop conditions have improved In 

 many localities, due principally to the 

 timely rains. 



Peas — Reports from the pea-seed 

 growing sections state that the pros- 

 perts for a norinal crop are good. 

 Growers in some of the large pea-seed 

 growing sections in Idaho say that 

 growing conditions have recently been 

 somewhat unfavorable on account of 

 the cold, windy weather. Recent rains, 

 however, have improved conditions to 

 such an extent that several growers 

 predict normal crops. Reports from 

 the pea-seed section in Montana say 

 that seeding Is nearly completed and 

 that growing conditions are better 

 than for several years. Eastern Wash- 

 ington pea-eeed growers report the 

 planting season two weeks to one 

 month earlier than usual but that cold 

 weather is retarding the growth of the 

 plants. The stand of peas In some sec- 

 tions of eastern Washington is said to 

 be 50 per cent better than at this pe- 

 riod last year. Reports from Oregon 

 pea-seed growing sections ^tate that 

 cold weather, with intermittent ra'ns. 

 has (becked the growth of the crop. 



Cabbage^A well-known cabbage 

 seed grower of the Puget Sound Dis- 

 trict summarizing the situation in that 

 area states that owing to the severe 

 floods last winter there will not be 

 from 10 to 12 per cent of an ordinary 

 crop. Other estimates place the con- 

 dition of the cabbage seed crop as 50 

 per cent of normal, but all growers 

 concede it will be very short. 



Beet — Severe damage by floods will 

 cut down materially the total yield of 

 beet seed in the Sound District. Re- 

 ports indicate that the present stands 

 of both table beets and mangels are 

 looking well. 



Sugar Beet — No recent frost injuries 

 to the sugar beet seed crop have re- 

 cently been reported in this section 

 ;ind most growers believe the danger 

 from this source is over. Reports from 

 Miiho sugar beet seed districts indi- 

 cate the crop prospects to be normal 



