730 



IIORTICULTU RE 



May 27, 1916 



SEED TRADE 



AMfeKU; A> SEED TRAPK ASSOCIAllUN 

 onlrrra — rrr.ldrnt. .1. M. I.uptoa, 



: Multllurk, I.. I.. NY.; Kir. I Mcc-I'r«l- 

 drnt, Klrhy II. » hllr, Drlroll, Mleh.| 

 hrronil > Icc-rrrKlilrnl. K. W. llolilnno. 



, WaahlnKlnn. 1>. f. ; .Srrrrtttr>-Trc»»urrr, 

 C. r.. Krnilrl. Clo clitDtl. O. ; A»UUU>t 

 8rfrrl«ry, S. F. « llUrd. Jr.. ClevpUnd, 

 O. Chlnno, 111., June iO-Zi, next mMt- 



' \nf plftc«. 



American Seed Trade Association. 



The Thlrly-fourtli Annual Conven- 

 tion of the Association has heen called 

 to convene at the Motel Sherman, 

 Chlcauo. 111.. June 20-22, ISHG. The 

 program has this year been purposely 

 shortene.l as matters of vital impor- 

 tance to the Association and the trade 

 will he up for discussion and it was 

 thought wise to allow sufficient time 

 to consider thera. 



The following are the rates at the 

 Hotel Sherman, which has been se- 

 lected as headquarters: 



Uoom wltU bath, *2.00, $2.M. $3.00 up to 



'hoom for two wltli bnth, $3.00, $3.50, $4.00 

 up to $tl.oo. 



Sultt-8 of two rooms for two pcT8onB, 

 $5.00. $7.00 and up. 



The management urges early reser- 

 vations to avoid disappointment. 



C. E. Kendex, Sec'y. 



Trade Conditions. 



Retailers are generally pleased 

 with the volume of business done, but 

 feel that more or less valuable trade 

 has been lost owing to the lateness of 

 the season, which cannot be regained 

 this year. 



Last week there were reports of 

 light frosts in various sections of 

 New York, New Jersey and New Eng- 

 land. The principal damage done was 

 to tomatoes and beans where the 

 latter were out of the ground. 



The neglect of many dealers to 

 place contracts for their future re- 

 quirements until very late in the 

 season is oftentimes embarrassing to 

 growers. We are advised that at the 

 present time quite a number have not 

 placed their orders covering their 

 future requirements in peas and beans, 

 as also other seeds. Possibly a month 

 hence they will come forward and 

 should the growers, because of unfav- 

 orable crop conditions, or being too 

 fully booked up to accept more busi- 

 ness, hesitate to accept these late 

 orders, the tardy ones would be greatr 

 ly surprised and more or less indig- 

 nant. Some day conditions will be 

 reversed and the growers will hold 

 the whip hand; if they do not use it 

 on a few of the procrastinators, they 

 will be worthy to wear wings and 

 play harps. 



Seed Trade Convention. 



The Convention of The American 

 Seed Trade Association is now about 

 four weeks off. Matters of unusual 

 and vital interest will be up for dis- 

 cussion and every seedsman who 

 wishes the organization to be a force- 

 ful vital factor should aim to attend. 

 It is unnecessary to be specific as to 

 the matters that will be considered, 

 excepting to say that the "Disclaimer" 

 will be one. as the question as to 

 whether it should be modified or re- 

 tained in its original form will be up 



for serious couHidoratlon. Many eon- 

 Borvatlve dealers expresH the opinion 

 that the "Discluimcr" Is a little too 

 drastic, and that its uliHoluto repudia- 

 tion of all responsibility on the part 

 of the seller is not in accord with the 

 spirit of the day. This absolute re- 

 imdiation of responHibllity has been 

 the cause of much agitation among 

 the heads of various State Hxporl- 

 mont Stations, and certain oBlilals 

 who are always thinking to cater to 

 the farmers' interests, (hut primarily 

 for the farmers' vole) looking to the 

 enactment of laws compelling the 

 seedsmen to assume responsibility for 

 the seeds they sell, and it Is felt by 

 many that the "Disclaimer" can be 

 softened and toned to some extent 

 without vitiating its legal and pro- 

 te<-tive value. 



It has been suggested that eastern 

 seedsmen who propose attending the 

 Convention and who are not in too 

 desperate a hurry, would travel part 

 of the distance by water. They could 

 take train to Buffalo and go by one 

 of three lines to Chicago, either by the 

 Great Northern Steamship Company, 

 the Anchor Line, or the D. & B. Line. 

 The latter would involve two changes — 

 one at Detroit, the other at Mackanic, 

 but as these changes are made at the 

 same dock where the passenger lands, 

 they are easily accomplished. The two 

 first named lines will carry the pass- 

 engers to destination without change. 

 The time consumed is about thirty-six 

 hours from Buffalo. 



One Week's Imports. 



Imports at the Port of New York of 

 horticultural material, for the week 

 ending May 12, were recorded as 

 follows: 



Bulbs — France, $2; Netherlands, 

 $4.0.34; England. $8"; Jamaica. $1; 

 Hongkong, J30. 



Plants — Belgium, $1,070; France, 

 $38; Netherlands, $8,296; England, 

 $1,109; Scotland, $144; Bermuda, $14; 

 Jamaica, $2; Trinidad, $90; Japan, 

 $74; C.uatemala, $300. 



Red clover seed — France, $17,910. 



Grass seed — Scotland, $2,219. 



Other seeds— France, $15,038; Ger- 

 many, $512: Italy, $365; England, 

 $10,525; Argentine. $2,389; Chile, 

 $611; British Indies, $13,280; Hong- 

 kong. $301; Morocco. $11,203. 



Nitrate of soda— Chile, $546,887. 



Other fertilizers — Argentine, $10,208. 



New Australian Sweet Peas. 

 A. T. Hoddineton Co. has just re- 

 ceived the first shipment of all the 

 new varieties of Australian sweet 

 peas. .Many of these are regarded as 

 great improvements over previously 

 existing types and it is expected that 

 the blooms will create a sensation 

 when put on the market next winter. 

 Some good things in the line of sweet 

 peas vere expected from New Zealand, 

 but. unfortunately, the New Zealand 

 crop was an almost complete failure, 

 growers barely saving enough seed to 

 preserve their stock. 



Grass. 



Do you liapjien to know, Mr. Seeds- 

 man, hnw many kinds of grasses there 

 are? Five thousand, Professor Mont- 

 gomory says in liis "Productive Farm 

 Crops," (LIpplncott Farm Manuals). 

 But out of this great number, man 

 uses only ten, as a rule, and only Ave 

 of those are extensively cultivated. It 

 is a curious fact that while practically 

 every other farm crop has undergone 

 great chanKcs under cultivation, 

 grasses are almost the same now as 

 when man lirst began to use them as 

 a wild iilant. 1,000 varieties of wheat, 

 500 varieties of corn, and only one 

 variety of blue-grass, or any other 

 grass under cultivation; grass varie- 

 ties developed themselves before man 

 took a hand in the game. And no 

 matter what their doflclencles, he has 

 80 far been content to use thera with- 

 out attemi)tlng improvement. If all 

 flesh is grass, it might be a good idea 

 to improve the grass, and note the 

 effect on the ultimate product. 



MINNESOTA NURSERY LAWS. 

 A Wrong Interpretation. 



A mistaken idea exists among some 

 Minnesota nursery stock dealers and 

 florists that they are required by the 

 Minnesota law to purchase their sup- 

 plies from Minnesota nurseries and 

 not from nurseries or dealers in other 

 states. This Impression is epitomized 

 by the prominently displayed para- 

 graph on the letterhead of a .Minne- 

 sota nurseryman, reading: 



"Niirscrvmin ti:ivi- In rtiniisli llii'lr cu"- 

 toinor.« with inirspry slnck from a Iiona 

 lido lfisj)rrtcd Minnesota niirHcr.v. accord- 

 inn to law. pii.sscd liv the stat«> IokIsI.t- 

 inrc at the 1(113 session." 



If tuis were true, the provision 

 would clearly be unconstitutional as a 

 discrimination against stock grown in 

 other states. (In re Schechter, 63 Fed. 

 Rep. 695; Minn, v Barber, iM U. S. 313. 

 322.) • 



The Minnesota Legislature in 1915 

 amended the law of 1913, section 7, so 

 that the Minnesota dealer or florist 

 can, by filing an affidavit that he will 

 buy and sell only stock duly inspected 

 by an official state inspector (not neces- 

 sarily a Minnesota inspector), and 

 filing with the state entomologist a 

 list of all sources of stock, sell his 

 stock freely. Curtis N. Smith. 



NURSERY STOCK IMPORT RULES. 

 Tlie I'ciienil Horticultural Board. 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture, has 

 just issued (May 15. 1916) Rules and 

 Regulations governing the importation 

 of nursery stock into the United States 

 effective July 1, 1916, and superseding 

 all former rules. The mcst important 

 change is the provision that permits 

 to import nursery stock frcni countries 

 which maintain nursery stock inspec- 

 tion and iiermits to import orchids 

 and tree seeds from countries which 

 do not maintain nursery stock inspec- 

 tion, instead of being reissued each 

 year, will be valid until revoked. 



Curtis Nye Smith. 



"Seeds with a Lineage" All Varieties 



Thoroughly tested at our trial grounds, Rayne« 

 Park, London, England. Send for Catalogue 



CARTERS 1 LoTED oEEDS; Inc., commero BidtrBe'iioD, mu,. 



