4>3*2 



horticulture: 



December S, 1906 



SEED TRADE TOPICS, 



When the question of continuing the 

 free distribution of penny paclvages of 

 seeds was before Congress last ses- 

 sion, the bullv of the votes in its favor 

 came from the South. Ftom the 

 action of the South Texas Fruit and 

 Truck Growers' Association, however, 

 it appears that the farmers of the 

 South are not anxious to continue re- 

 ceiving these seeds, but would rather 

 have the money devoted to other pur- 

 poses of real benefit to agriculture. 

 At a recent meeting of the association ' 

 strong anti free-seed resolutions were 

 adopted. Among other things the 

 resolutions say that the seeds received 

 from the members of Congress "are 

 usually the varieties known to be un- 

 suited to the soil and climate of South 

 Texas and hence are worthless to us. 

 These seeds are sent to us by our rep- 

 resentatives in Congress under the 

 mistaken idea that a favor is being 

 ■conferred, which mistaken idea we 

 hereby wish to correct. The amount 

 ■of money spent annually for seed dis- 

 tribution, if apportioned among the 

 United States Experiment Stations 

 would be a thousand times more bene- 

 ficial to each of us than as it is now 

 spent." 



It was therefore resolved that the 

 association shoiikl thank the Texas 

 representatives in Congress for past 

 favors in the way of free seeds, but 

 assure them these favors were mis- 

 taken kindnesses on their part; that 

 Ihey condemn the practice of free dis- 

 tribution of garden seeds as an eco- 

 nomic waste, wholly unjustifiable; 

 that "in the future we will not accept 

 from the government free garden 

 seeds; and that we urge our repre- 

 sentatives as a favor which we will 

 appreciate to vote against the bill ap- 

 propriating funds for the distributing 

 of free garden seeds, and to use their 

 influence to have the amount thus 

 saved appropriated to the Experiment 

 Stations of the country." The reso- 

 lutions are signed by the president, 

 W. H. Travis, I'alacies; vice-president, 

 S. A. McHenry, Santa Maria, an'l 

 secretary, C. A. Walton, Victoria. 

 Texas. The South Texas Fruit and 

 Truck Growers' Association consists of 

 affiliated local associations through- 

 out South Texas and the Gulf Coast 

 country, comprising a membership of 

 more than 1,300. 



While it is not expected that the 

 House of Representatives will devote 

 a week to discussing the question 

 whether the government should con- 

 tinue distributing seeds free as it did 

 last session, the matter will no <lnubt 

 again come before that body, when the 

 agricultural appropriation bill is con- 

 sidered. Last session the House Com- 

 mittee on Agriculture reached the con- 

 clusion that it was a waste of money 

 to spend $242,000 annually in distrib- 

 uting common varieties of garden 

 seeds. The committee also took cog- 

 nizance of the facts that the seeds were 

 distributed through the mails and en- 

 tailed a burden on the Postoffic? De- 

 partment and also considerat)le ex- 

 pense, estimated at from fifty to two 

 hundred and fifty thousand dollars per 



annum. The committee omitted the 

 item for tree seed distribution, but it 

 was reinserted by the House of Rep- 

 resentatives by a vote of 153 to 83 af- 

 ter a debate which raged for nearly a 

 week. One of the strongest objections 

 made to the omission of the item was 

 that the committee had acted without 

 any one appearing before it to object 

 to the distribution. This was ex- 

 plained by the fact that although the 

 seed dealers had objected to the dis- 

 tribution for many years, they had no 

 intimation that the committee would 

 take action on the subject, and there- 

 fore did not appear before it. When 

 the point was raised it was of course 

 too late to make representations to the 

 House Committee, but a large delega- 

 tion appeared before the Senate Com- 

 mittee, and as a result of the hearing 

 that committee reported that a dis- 

 tinct majority wa.s opposed to the plan 

 of free seed distribiition and lioped at 

 this session to be able to make a sat- 

 isfactory change. In order that those 

 opposed to free seeds shall have an op- 

 portunity to present their case to the 

 House Committee on Agriculture, that 

 committee has granted them a hear- 

 ing on December 12th, at which the 

 entire matter will be very carefully 

 gone into. The anti-free seed move- 

 ment has the support of the National 

 Grange, National Farmers' Congress, 

 and other national, state and local or- 

 ganizations of farmers, together with 

 the horticultural societies, both state 

 and local, and the faculties of many, 

 if not all, of the state experiment sta- 

 tions and agricultural colleges. It is 

 unnecessary to remark that the Ameri- 

 can • Seed Traile Association, the 

 Wholesale Seedsmen's League, and all 

 associations interested in the seed 

 trade are also opposed to this distri- 

 bution. 



whom they are a secondary consider- 

 ation, particularly those who never or- 

 der until fall, will find prices an un- 

 welcome surprise. Those who place 

 their orders early not only get the 

 ijcnefli of much lower prices as a very 

 general rule, but usually get better 

 stocks. Moral: Order early. 



It developed that the heavy snow 

 and cold wave which swept New 

 York state in October caused heavy 

 loss to the canners. Thousands of 

 bushels of tomatoes were spoiled, and 

 packing was brought to an abrupt 

 close. One packer states that had the 

 snow held off another week he would 

 have packed 10,000 cans more. . As 

 ttmiatoes are worth nearly $2 a case, 

 the loss to this firm alone was not far 

 from f20,000, and many others suffered 

 more or less. 



The more recent snow and freeze 

 found hundreds of acres of potatoes 

 undug, and while the freeze «as not 

 severe enough to penetrate the ground 

 sufficiently to reach the potatoes, yet 

 rhpy were dug while the soil was 

 simpl.v mud, which will be more or 

 less detrimental to their keeping 

 qualities. 



Many acres of cabbages not yet 

 harvested were damaged and rendered 

 unfit for kraut, and their market value 

 Impaired fully fifty per cent. These 

 facts are an unfavorable commentary 

 on the slack and procrastinating 

 methods of many farmers, but they 

 will be the same next year, and the 

 next, and so on ad infinitum. 



A few preliminary wholesale price 

 lists have appeared, and these indi- 

 cate the shortage in many lines by the 

 mark up in prices. These advances 

 were anticipated by the trade in gen- 

 eral, but many who sell seeds, and to 



The expected decline in the price oi; 

 onions is already a sad reality to those 

 v,'ho deal in this malodorous yet 

 savory vegetable, and the railroads are 

 in some instances demanding prepay- 

 ment of freight charges. 



Perhaps one should speak of onions 

 as "fruit," as the efforts of the rail- 

 roads to classify potatoes as "fruit" 

 makes tha term as applied to onions 

 icss absurd than it might at first seem. 

 The rate bill permits railroads to 

 grant free transportation to caretakers 

 traveling with perishable fruits. It 

 ma> seem far fetched to call potatoes 

 "fruit," but as they are perishable 

 goods, subject to serious damage by 

 freezing, it would seem that railroads 

 are justified in issuing passes to those 

 in charge of shipments during freez- 

 ing weather. Of course freezing does 

 not affect onions as injuriously as 

 potatoes but it does them no good. 



It is a matter of general comment 

 that the California seed growers are 

 all very late in visiting the east this 

 year Are reports of a combination 

 true? Developments will be watched 

 with interest, but no use of comment 

 until we know whether or not these 

 reports are true. 



There are reports that onion seed 

 growing is to be resumed in the east 

 on a more or less extensive scale, par- 

 ticularly in Ohio. Another failure in 

 ('alifornia would give great stimulus 

 to the plan, not alone in Ohio but in 

 other sections of the east. 



Peter M. Miller has resigned his po- 

 sition in charge of the flower seed and 

 bulb department at Jos. Breck & Sons 

 Corp., Boston, and sailed on a two 

 months' visit to his home in Scotland, 

 on S. S. Columbia, leaving New York 

 December 1. 



SEED TRADE ONLY 



iinreiibnig, Hurpers &- Co. nre the 

 IpndlDff grass seed spt'ciallsts of Arn- 

 hem. Holland. Aruhcm has been cele- 

 brated for many generations as head- 

 qnartei's for natural grasses. The lead- 

 ing seedsmen of the world look to 

 Aritlicm for their supplies of crested 

 Dogstail. Florin, Sweet Vernal, Fes- 

 cues. Wood Meadow and all fancy 

 grasses for lawns and pastures. Con- 

 stant growth In any business Is proof 

 conejuslve that customers receive hon- 

 orable treatment and full value for 

 their money. Orders from the seed 

 trade are solicited and satisfaction guar- 

 anteed. Dr. Stabler's analyses as to 

 purity and germination go with all 

 fancy samples. Write at once to the 

 snle agent for the United States and 

 Canada, George C. Watson. Dohson 

 Huilding, 9th and Market Sts., Phlla. 



Our guarantee means something. We 

 nre not here today and gone tomorrow. 

 We number among our customers the 

 largest seed houses In the world. 

 Orders should be placed now for spring 

 delivery. Present market rates while 

 without engagement are particularly 

 favorable to buyer. All Indications 

 point to greatly enhanced figures In 

 the near future. 



