492 



HORTICULTURE 



April 8, 1916 



SEED TRADE 



AMKRICAN SBBO TRADK ASSOCIATION 



otlli-«-ro — I* rr* III ml. 

 MiiCCinifk, I.. I . N. \ •• 

 M.illlliM k. I.. 1.. N. \ . 

 • Ii'iil. Klrl>> II. »l>>l 



.1. M. I.upton, 

 I l-lr»l > li-r-l"re»l 



Hr»t \ Ur-I'r»»l- 

 '. ■■■'Iroll, .Midi. 



>rrull<l \ l<'r-ITr>lilf'l>l. I. \\. Ilolclltna, 

 WnililiiKton. 1>. <■; >.-.ri-tiir.> -Trrimurrr, 

 I. K. Krllilrl. « lr%rlm»l, O. ; .\iiiilatJUlt 

 h.Tri-larj . S. K. W llliinl. Jr.. Clrtrland, 

 «>. «'lilri>(o, III., Juiir iv-ii, next meet- 

 Inc place. 



Onion Seed. 



The ileiiiaud for onion seed, purlltii- 

 liirly of the yellow varieties, tontlnuos. 

 Init is largely unsatisfied as seed of 

 hinh quality has become exceedingly 

 scarce. There has been much com- 

 plaint about the unsatisfactory germi- 

 nation of some lots of onion seed this 

 season, and where the vitality has 

 hten low some seedsmen have adopted 

 the plan of sending an additional quan- 

 tity stifflcient to make up for this lack. 

 This plan undoubtedly will not be fol- 

 lowed by the trade as a whole as It Is 

 too expensive. Most dealers, and par- 

 ticularly the mall order houses placed 

 their prices at too low a figure to en- 

 able them to do this without serious 

 loss. 



Embarrassing State Enactments. 



Just how the seed laws of the va- 

 rious states which prescribe arbitrary 

 standards of germination can be met 

 this year In the matter of onion seed 

 will prove something of a problem. 

 When the legislature attempts to regu- 

 late a product of nature, it is like pass- 

 ing laws forbidding grasshoppers to 

 cross a state line, and quite as sensi- 

 ble. , If the men who pass such laws 

 wete blessed with a little more "horse 

 sense," and were less ready to play 

 the role of the demagogue to obtain 

 farmers' votes, such laws would never 

 be passed. No doubt the farmers 

 should be protected from deliberate 

 fraud, but with all respect to this im- 

 portant element of our population, 

 many of the evils they complain of 

 have their birth in their own midst 

 and they are largely responsible. Being 

 a privileged class exempted from the 

 operations of laws that will send other 

 worthy citizens to jail, they are begin- 

 ning to feel that no restrictive law 

 should apply to them while the other 

 |)art of the population should be sub- 

 jected to laws little short of an inquisi- 

 tion. 



The Disclaimer Controversy. 

 HoBTicuLTLTiE, Boston: 

 Gentlemen: 



Your last issue, containing the arti- 

 cle in regard to the non-warranty 

 clause of the American Seed Trade 

 Disclaimer, meets with our hearty ap- 

 proval. Mr. Leonard was very sorry 

 indeed after the meeting of this com- 

 mittee was over that he did not get up 

 and make a strong protest, but the 

 feeling was that it would be better at 

 the time to uphold the very good com- 

 mittee we had in this matter, who 

 were trying to do the best they possi- 

 bly could to arrive at a satisfactory 

 agreement for all concerned, and while 

 a great many who were present and 

 voted for the report of the committee, 

 after thinking it over feel that It would 

 have been better indeed for the seed 

 trade in general if a more decided 

 stand had been taken. 



.\t the same lime, the committee la- 

 bored eiimestly and are deserving of 

 every credit for their endeavor to keep 

 iiiatttTS pleasant lictwceii all parties, 

 and till' iindiTstiindlng soeiiis to be 

 that this matter should and will be 

 liruu>;lit up before the Seiul Trade As- 

 sociation at its next niet!tiiig in .luue. 

 which Is undoubtedly the proper place 

 lor It. as this Chicago meeting was one 

 without any authority at all, as we un- 

 derstand it. but simply a gathering of 

 seedsmen to protest against anyone 

 selling goods willioiit the iionwarnuily 

 clause, which, in our opinion, should 

 be used by everyone in the association. 

 Yours very truly, 



Lkonarii Skeii Co. 



Chicago, .March :)l, I Hit!. 



Lifting the Embargoes. 



Curtis Nye Smith, counsel of the 

 Seed and .Nursery Trade Associations, 

 had on A|iril :{ a conference with the 

 railroad oflicials of the New York 

 Central and New Haven Railroads and 

 also with the Eastern Freight Ac- 

 cumulation Conference concerning the 

 lifting of embargoes on seeds and 

 nursery stock. As our readers were 

 heretofore advised the New Haven 

 embargo on seeds was lifted March 

 1st and on March 28th a permanent 

 order against embargo on seeds was 

 made. On the same road, on March 

 31st, the embargo on nursery stock 

 was lifted. The New York Central 

 lines and Boston & Albany have 

 lifted embargoes on seeds and nursery 

 stock. The Boston & Maine also had 

 no embargo on seeds or nursery stock. 

 The Pennsylvania has co-operated in 

 the lifting of embargoes. 



It is of the greatest importance that 

 seeds and nursery stocks shall go for- 

 ward promptly as the planting season 

 is at hand. The railroad officials have 

 shown an earnest desire to assist In 

 this movement. If any seedsman or 

 nurseryman finds any delay in ship- 

 ments, telegraph his complaint at 

 once to the Vice-President in charge 

 of Trafiic of the railroad complained 

 of. with copies to Mr. Smith. 



One Week's Imports. 



Imports at the jjort of New York of 

 horticultural material for the week 

 ending March 24, were recorded as 

 follows : 



Bulbs— Denmark, $2,984; France, 

 $51: Germany, $2,550; Netherlands, 

 $24,678; England, $945; Hongkong, 

 $200; Japan, $829. 



Plants, etc.— France, $662; Nether- 

 lands, $79,781; England, $1,536; Ire- 

 land, $2,363: .Japan, $1,501. 



Red clover seed — France, $59,809; 

 Germany, $4,000; Italy, $107,533; 

 Netherlands, $418. 



Other clover seed — France, $3,083; 

 Canada, $4,758. 



All other seeds — France, $13,643; 

 Denmark, $185; Netherlands, $28,158; 

 England, $27,881; Hongkong, $10; 

 Japan, $210. 



Nitrate of potash— England, $72,761. 



Nitrate of soda— Chile, $5,661. 



Sulphate of potash — Peru, $5,954. 



Other fertilizers— Scotland, $313; 

 British West Indies, $5,390. 



of .1 . handed down on April 1 



by in. H.Kiril of United Stales General 

 .■Xpprulsers. Duty was taxed on these 

 plants as nursery stock not specially 

 lirovldeil for, at the rate of l.S per cout. 

 ad valorem under paragraph 211, tariff 

 act of 1913. The board finds that duty 

 should have been assessed under the 

 provision in paragraph 210 for "all 

 other bulbs, roots, root stocks, and 

 tubers, which are cultivated for their 

 foliage, no cents per thousand." 



Notes. 

 .\. 1. IliiililiugiiMi Stales that his now 

 location on chambers street has great- 

 ly increased his counter trade He Is 

 expecting an excellent business this 

 season 



Customs Decision. 

 Merchandise described as phlox or 

 other herbaceous plants with fascicu- 

 lated non-bulbous roots, imported by 

 McHutchison & Co., were the subject 



The Dutch have raised their em- 

 bargo on round spinach seed, carrot, 

 onion and leek seed, according to a 

 telegram from the American consul 

 general at Rotterdam. 



The reliable old house of William 

 Elliott & Sons speak enthusiastically 

 of their business thus far this season. 

 It has shown a marked Increase over 

 last year or the year previous. 



Business Is brisk at Thorburn's. 

 Vaughan's, Weeber & Don's, Burnett 

 Bros'., and we must not overlook W. E. 

 .Marshall & Co., who are working over- 

 time to keep up with their orders. 



The MacNiff Horticultural Company 

 finds their three stores none too large 

 for their increase in business. Most 

 of these stores are crowded during 

 certain hours of the day and the large 

 staff of clerks kept very busy. 



A glance in the store of Peter Hen- 

 derson & Company would disclose to 

 any one familiar with the spring busi- 

 ness of this establishment that spring 

 was once more on us. It is crowded 

 to capacity much of the time, and the 

 management wears a placid and satis- 

 fied smile. 



The sudden advent of spring has 

 been a most welcome surprise to the 

 seed trade as well as the public in gen- 

 eral. We understand that most of the 

 dealers have been very busy during 

 the past week and much night work 

 has been found necessary. While the 

 loss of the month of March to the re- 

 tail trade can scarcely be made up this 

 spring, all indications are that they 

 will be pushed to their limit of capac- 

 ity during the next sixty days, and 

 some of the lost ground may be re- 

 gained. 



NEW CORPORATIONS. 



Milwaukee, Wis. — J. M. Fox & Son 

 Co., florists, capital stock $25,000. In- 

 corporators, J. .M., J. F. and J. T. Fox. 



St. Joseph, Mo.— Mitchihill Seed Co., 

 wholesale and retail, capital stock 

 $50,000. Incorporators. Jeanette, Bruce 

 and Alice Mitchihill 



I^ic/ieUjDislmUoeSeeds 



CoMoiifueJree 



