738 



HORTICULTtJUE 



May 16, 1914 



SEED TRADE 



AMERICAN SEH) TRADE ASSOCIATION 



Officers — President, Chas. 0. Maasic, 

 MlnnespoUs, Minn.; iBt Tice-presldent, 

 i. H. Lapton, Uattitock, N. T.; 2nd 

 Tlee - president, W. F. Ttaerkildson, 

 PttlseeTlIle, O.; secretary, C. E. Ken- 

 del: assistant secretary, S. F. WUlard, 

 Jr.. both of Cleveland, O. 



might in the end mean a blessing both 

 to the seed grower and the consumer. 



Influence of the Weather on the Pea 

 Crop. 



Gentle spring is here at last and we 

 trust she will bide-a-wee. So much 

 has been said of the effect of the late 

 spring on counter trade at the seed 

 stores that nothing further is neces- 

 sary along those lines. However, one 

 effect of the late spring has not re- 

 ceived very much attention so far as 

 we have noticed and that is its in- 

 fluence on planting. Nearly all crops 

 have gone into the ground from two 

 to tour weeks late with the exception 

 of a few favored spots where the char- 

 acter of the soil was such that it 

 quickly dried off. We have ascertained 

 that peas for instance, have been plant- 

 ed many weeks later than usual and 

 up to the first of May in the State of 

 New York the canners had not suc- 

 ceeded in getting 10 per cent of their 

 seed peas in the ground. No matter 

 how favorable the weather may be 

 from now until harvest, the crop will 

 inevitably be late. It is customary for 

 most of the New York State packers 

 to begin operations anywhere from the 

 15th to the 22nd of June, but few of 

 them expect to start this year much 

 before the 1st of July. We refer to 

 the matter simply because it will bring 

 the peas into blossom at what is us- 

 ually one of the hottest periods of the 

 summer; and if dry at the time and 

 the heat is protracted, it will mean 

 inevitably a short crop. This of course 

 necessarily affects peas grown for seed 

 the same as for canning, but as only 

 a very sm^ll percentage is grown for 

 seed in the East the effect on the seed 

 crop will be immaterial. 



So tar as we are able to learn the 

 opposite conditions prevail in the West 

 where planting has been unusually 

 early. We are referring now to peas 

 grown for seed purposes in the far 

 Northwest, Montana and Idaho. While 

 this early start is distinctly favorable 

 there is a great fear that the water 

 supply is liable to run short before 

 midsummer in which event there will 

 be undoubtedly a very short crop of 

 seed. It is known generally, we as- 

 sume, that most of the farming done 

 in these states is by irrigation. Most 

 of the streams that are 'depended upon 

 to furnish water are fed by the snows 

 which fall in the mountains during 

 the winter. From all reports the 

 snow fall of the past winter has been 

 the lighest in many years, and as the 

 spring opened unusually early the 

 snow will probably disappear at an 

 early period, and without rains to sup- 

 plement the snow there may be dry 

 times ahead for farmers in the north- 

 west. These facts we believe will be 

 interesting to the trade in general for 

 a short crop of peas the coming sum- 

 mer may not prove an unmixed evil. 

 We do not of course mean a crop fail- 

 ure. But a considerable shortage 



General Crop Comments, 



While we have been referring to the 

 pea crop, we may incidentally say that 

 nearly all crops which are usually 

 planted early will suffer from the hand- 

 icap of late planting this year, spring 

 grains among the other items. The re- 

 cent Government report showing the 

 very high and very satisfactory con- 

 dition of winter grain, especially 

 wheat, is most gratifying to the farm- 

 ers and the public in general, but it 

 is quite a distance from harvest and 

 many ills may befall the crop before 

 that time is reached, however, we do 

 not desire to be pessimistic; on the 

 contrary we should be pleased to see. 

 like most other interested persons, a 

 general good crop of all staples the 

 coming summer. Good crops general- 

 ly make for prosperous conditions, 

 and as there is much criticism of busi- 

 ness conditions and many idle men 

 at the present time, any causes that 

 would tend to improve matters would 

 be welcome. 



It is needless to say that the seed 

 trade is busy. Probably the trade as 

 a whole was never more busy at this 

 period of the year. Much of the busi- 

 ness that is being done now should 

 have been transacted in April and two 

 months will be crowded into one. Be- 

 cause of the lateness of the season 

 many items will not be used this year 

 that would have been had we had a 

 normal spring. 



Canners Will Not Go to San Francisco. 



An important meeting of the officers 

 of the National Canners' Association 

 together with those of the Canning Ma- 

 chinery and Supplies' Association and 

 the Canned Foods and Dried Fruit 

 Brokers' Association is in progress in 

 Washington to determine where the 

 next annual Canners' Convention shall 

 be held. A meeting for this purpose 

 was held some weeks ago in Chicago, 

 but many obstacles which arose at 

 that time prevented a decision being 

 reached. We are advised that San 

 Francisco has been eliminated as a 

 convention point for 1915. No other 

 place has been decided on, but we un- 

 derstand some city of the middle west 

 will be chosen. We will furnish full 

 information as soon as definite action 

 is taken. San Francisco is favored for 

 1916. 



Seed Legislation Sidetracked. 



Editor Horticultuke: 



I am pleased to advise you that 

 Senator Gronna's bill (S. 480) to reg- 

 ulate Interstate commerce in seeds, 

 has received an adverse report from 

 the Senate Committee on Agriculture 

 and Forestry, to which this bill was 

 referred. It is not likely that this 

 report will be reversed by the Senate. 



The other interstate seed bill before 

 Congress, being Mr. Howard's Bill (H. 

 B. 11170), has not been considered by 

 the House Committee on Agriculture, 

 and as their program for the remain- 

 der of the session is now made up 

 and does include this bill, no action 

 will be taken upon it. 



From the above you will perceive 

 that there is little likihood that any 

 action will be taken on seed legislation 

 in this session of Congress. 



CuKTiH Nye S.\trrn 



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Notes. 



Omaha, Neb. — Werter De Vaughn 

 will shortly open a seed store on Har- 

 ney street. 



Chicago. — E. F. Winterson's seed 

 store made what was probably the rec- 

 ord sale of the season last week, when 

 100 Firebird cannas were sold to one 

 customer for $125. The plants will 

 be used to beautify a Chicago lawn. 



