520 



HOETICULTUKE 



October 10, 1914 



HOT HOUSE GRAPES 



Black Hamburg, Muscat of Alexandria, 

 Alicante, Appley Towers, Gros Colmar, 

 Gros Guillaume, Lady Downe's Seed- 

 ling, Madresfield Court, Black Muscat 



They are grown in our own greenhouse and can 

 be shipped immediately, if desired 



Strong Fruiting Canes 

 Planting Canes .... 



R. & J. FARQUHAR & COMPANY 



6 South Market Street, Boston, Mass. 



SEED TRADE 



The European Situation. 

 Crop conditions have now become 

 fairly clear excepting possibly the 

 European situation, which is now, and 

 promises to remain an enigma 

 throughout the season. European 

 dealers promise vei-y freely that we 

 shall get all goods ordered, but this 

 is improbable, although no doubt we 

 shall get a considerable percentage 

 both those under contract and orders 

 placed this fall. The great trouble how- 

 ever, will be the uncertainty of wbeu 

 the goods will arrive and what items 

 will be omitted. This is a question that 

 the future alone must answer, but this 

 element of uncertainty will be very 

 disturbing to the trade, and many are 

 taking steps to supjjly immediate re- 

 quirements on this side of the At- 

 lantic, sufficient at least to meet early 

 orders. This would seem to be good 

 business, especially on the part of the 

 mail-order houses, who begin to re- 

 ceive orders immediately after their 

 catalogues are sent out. We have no 

 wish to be pessimistic in this matter 

 but simply wish to point out what 

 may possibly occur. 



Domestic Seed Crops. 

 So far as domestic crops are con- 

 cerned, we may say in a general way 

 that iieas have been a fairly good 

 crop, though the yield as well as the 

 acreage were both smaller than a year 

 ago. and the situation today is much 

 stronger than last season at this 



time. This applies not only to the 

 garden varieties which are used main- 

 ly by the seed trade, but to those 

 varieties used mainly by the canners. 

 Good authorities estimate that in 1913, 

 in the State of Wisconsin alone from 

 .'lO.OOO to T.'i.OOO bushels of pea seed 

 was involuntarily raised by the can- 

 ners; that is. none of it was planted 

 for seed purposes, but owing to the 

 enormous crop and the weather con- 

 ditions, the peas matured more rapid- 

 ly than they could be handled for can- 

 ning purposes, and a considerable per- 

 centage were allowed to rii)en for 

 seed. In the State of New York also 

 not less than from 30.000 to 40,000 

 bushels were raised in the same way. 

 while this year a very few thousand 

 bushels in both states, probably not 

 exceeding fi.OOO or 8.000 would cover 

 the entire quantity of seed grown by 

 the canners. 



The fact that the seed growers are 

 already receiving many inquiries for 

 quotations, particularly from the can- 

 ners, is an interesting indication of 

 the general requirements in this line. 

 The demand for Alaskas is especially 

 heavy, and they are already being 

 quoted at $4.00 and upward, which is 

 a premium of at least ."SOc. per bushel 

 over the prices at which futures were 

 booked last winter. Good judges fig- 

 ure that Alaskas will ultimately sell 

 at $4,50 per bushel in car lots. There 

 seems to be a much easier situation 

 with regard to the later or "sweet" 

 peas, but it is the opinion of leading 

 growers that the market will be pretty 

 tlioroughly cleared up of all desirable 

 pea seed before the meeting of the 

 Canners convention, February next. 



With reference to California seed 

 crops, our latest information is that 

 they have been fairly good with the 

 exception of flowering sweet peas and 

 one or two varieties of onion seed. 

 Bush Lima beans, especially the Ford- 

 hook and Burpee's Improved are in 

 short supply, and will bring a consid- 

 erable premium over last spring's 

 growing prices. 



Owing to the warm open fall with- 

 out damaging frosts until after Oct- 

 ober 1st, corn has generally matured 

 well, even the late varieties. There 

 will probably be sufficient to meet all 

 ordinary requirements at moderate 

 prices. 



Vine Seeds and Beans. 

 Vine seeds of all kinds including 

 cucumbers, melons, squashes and the 

 fancy varieties of pumpkins are a 

 little on the short side, but not suffi- 

 ciently to cause any anxiety to buy- 

 ers. The prices may be a little firmer 

 than a year ago but not materially 

 higher. The worst item on the list is 

 the bean crop. Beans undoubtedly are 

 in very short supply, and present in- 

 dications are that prices will rule 

 even higher than a year ago. It is 

 pretty well understood that there was 

 no carry over of beans, trade having 

 to rely on this year's crops entirely. 

 When we consider that the average 

 on Wax varieties probably will not ex- 

 ceed 25 per cent and on the Green 

 Pods from 25 to 40 per cent, some 

 idea of values may be gained. We 

 have heard it stated that even these 

 low estimates are altogether too high, 

 and that many of the Wax varieties 

 will be returned practically crop fail- 



