:;:•_' 



H O Ml CULFURt 



September 9, 1911 



Seed Trade 



The Non-Warranty Clause. 

 The following communication has 

 been sent to the members of the 

 American Seed Trade Association by 

 Secretary Kendel: 



At the last Annual Convention ot 

 your Association the undersigned Corn- 

 mittei was appointed to investigate 

 and report on the question, — Is it nec- 

 essary for seedsmen to have the usual 

 non-warranty clause printed on their 

 stationery between the date line and 

 signature in order to make such clause 

 an effective condition of the contract 

 of sale made by the correspondence 

 between the seller-seedsman and the 

 buyer? 



We beg to submit our report as fol- 

 lows: 



From information received, we un- 

 derstand that the question arose from 

 a decision of the Supreme Court of 

 Illinois found in the case of Summers 

 vs. Hibbard, 153 111. 102, and we brief- 

 ly note the facts of that case. Hib- 

 bard made Summers an offer to buy 

 certain sheet iron. Summers gave an 

 unqualified acceptance of said offer on 

 their stationery which carried on the 

 top of the sheet above the date line, 

 firm's name, etc., in small printed 

 type the clause, "All sales subject to 

 strikes and accidents." Summers 

 tailed to deliver and set up as a de- 

 fense this clause, claiming it as a 

 term of the contract. The Court held 

 that the written terms of the contract 

 were absolute, definite and conclusive 

 and that the printed clause was antag- 

 onistic to the written terms and must 

 therefore be discarded. 



In the later Illinois case of Anacon- 

 da Copper Mining Co. vs. Houston, 

 107 111. App. 183, there was a printed 

 clause at the top of the stationery and 

 above the date line, etc., preceded, 

 however, with shipping directions in 

 typewriting. The Court held such 

 clause a part of the contract, saying: 

 "There being a written designation of 

 the shipping route at the head of the 

 letter sheet in close proximity to the 

 printed condition * * * and there be- 

 ing no inconsistency between the 

 written and printed parts of the con- 

 tract * * * the acceptance of the order 

 without objection * * * constituted an 

 agreement to ship in accordance 

 with * * * the printed clause."' 



The Court reviewed the Summers 

 case, explaining the difference in facts 

 of the two cases. It is also suggested 

 that there would be no dispute if in 

 the typewritten part of the letter a di- 

 rect reference to the printed clause 

 was made: and the Court gives this 

 dictum: 



"We are inclined to the opinion that 

 without some such reference a printed 

 condition should not be considered a 

 part of the written contract where an 

 absolute order is given in writing and 

 accepted by the other party." 



We have also considered other 

 Illinois cases and there appears no di- 

 vergence from the law as above stated. 

 Therefore, answering the query 

 above propounded, so far as the de- 

 cisions of Illinois are concerned, we 

 are of the opinion that the seedsman 

 can print his disclaimer clause at the 

 top. or at the bottom, or on the re- 

 verse side of the letter sheet, upon 

 which he is making his contract of 

 sale, and have same an effective con- 

 dition of his contract, provided in the 



written part of his letter direct ref- 

 erence to such clause as a part of the 

 contract is made, as. for example. 

 . , i to tb< above (or below, etc.) 

 printed conditions we offer (or ac- 

 cept I, etc." 



We suggest that this method of plac- 

 ing the disclaimer clause at the top or 



t i in of the letter sheet, with direct 



reference thereto in the body of the 

 typew ritten letter, has an advantage 

 over printing the clause between the 

 date line and signature, inasmuch 

 as not all correspondence of seedmen 

 constitute offers or acceptance of 

 prici s or terms of sales, and the di- 

 rect reference above advised distinct- 

 ly conies within the ruling of the 

 Anaconda case, above cited and many 

 other decisions, and will avoid the 

 possibly unfavoiahle judicial deter- 

 mination that the printed clause is an- 

 tagonistic to the written terms and so 

 void. 



And as to the law in states other 

 than Illinois, our investigations indi- 

 cate that most Courts sustain, while 

 some Courts do not establish the 

 Illinois doctrine of exclusion of 

 printed clauses outside of the date 

 line and signature, unless referred to 

 in the body of the letter, on the well 

 known theory that a document must 

 be read by its "four" or "eight cor- 

 ners." Yet we maintain our opinion 

 above expressed and for these rea- 

 sons: 



First, the Courts might decide, un- 

 der the facts of the particular case, 

 (as in the Summers case), that the 

 printed disclaimer clause was not con- 

 templated by the parties as a condi- 

 tion of the contract. 



Second. Even if the Courts held 

 that the printed clause was a condi- 

 tion of the contract, yet it may be de- 

 cided that the printed clause was an- 

 tagonistic to the written terms and so 

 void under a well established rule of 

 law. because the written words pro- 

 pose to sell certain seeds carrying an 

 implied warranty as true to type, etc., 

 while the printed clause expressly 

 robs the written words of any such 

 force. Of course, all this is obviated 

 by the direct reference in the written 

 agreement to the printed clause. 



Therefore we conclude by suggest- 

 ing that the use of the disclaimer 

 clause as advised provides greater se- 

 curity to the seedsman and it certain- 

 ly seems more frank and better busi- 

 ness for the seedsman to state his con- 

 ditions in the direct, unambiguous 

 and not at all difficult manner sug- 

 gested. 



Respectfully submitted, 

 CrttTis Nye Smith, Kirby B. White, 

 Simeon F. Leonard. 



Foreign Grass Seed Crops. 



Advices from Europe bearing date 

 of August 24th indicate that the 

 crops are nearly all saved now and 

 have reached the warehouses for clean- 

 ins and grading — with the exception of 

 orchard grass and the rye grasses. 

 Everything seems to be turning out 

 disappointing as to quantity on ac- 

 count of the very hot. dry summer. It 

 is feared that not only for this season 

 (1911-12) hut also the next (1912-13) 

 tie effects of the extraordinary heat 

 and drought will be felt. As far as 

 can lie judged at present the fields 

 sown la<t spring intended for 1912-13 

 crop will be lost entirely. 



As for the quotations for this sea- 



son 1911-12 there is at present great 

 uneasiness and a general feeling that 

 we shall see higher figures than last 

 year on at least a few of the varieties. 

 Those in a position to know say that 

 not one variety thus far threshed and 

 cleaned has given a satisfactory re- 

 sult as to yield. So far, yields are very 

 small, and the seeds are unusually 

 light— hence there is a greater loss 

 than usual in the shape of light 

 matter and immature seeds. But aft- 

 er these losses have been sustained, 

 the resultant samples are of a nice 

 bright color and they must all germi- 

 nate very strongly— not having suf- 

 fered in the least by wet weather 

 while curing. 



Bozeman, Mont.— The beginning of 

 what is liRely to develop into a new 

 industry of considerable importance to 

 this valley was started here this spring 

 when the Jerome B. Rice Seed Com- 

 pany contracted with a number of Gal- 

 latin valley farmers to devote a cer- 

 tain acreage to the raising of seed 

 peas. 



This year about 2C00 acres were 

 planted "to peas and the result demon- 

 stiates that with the proper atten- 

 tion this crop can be made a very 

 profitable one to the farmers of this 

 valley. 



From the experience this year the 

 seed company is satisfied that this 

 valley is well adapted to the raising 

 of peas in large quantities and will 

 provide for a larger acreage next year 

 and should thorough trial prove that 

 the climate and soil of the locality is 

 as favorable for the crop as is con- 

 fidently expected, a big cannery will 

 be located here and the raising of peas 

 will become one of the important in- 

 dustries of the country-— Bogeman 

 Chronicle. 



OIAIM 



Enffli*h Cyclamen Seed— best strain, $0.00 

 per mo Pansy Seed — home grown. $5.00 

 per o7.. Mignonette Giant, greenhouse 

 forcing. $5.00 per oz.. S. oz. $1.00. 



SKIDELSKY & IRWIN CO. 



1215 Betz Bldg. Philadelphia 



CELERY PLANTS. $2.00 PER 1000 



Have several thousand celery plants 

 that will do finely for frames or green- 

 houses or for the South. Have also larger 

 plants. 

 WARKEX SHIN'N". 



Woodbury, >'. J- 



Burpee's Seeds 



PHILADELPHIA 



Blue LUt of Wholesale Prices mailed 

 only to these who plant for profit. 



SEPTEMBER STRAWBERRY PLANTS 



Fall is by far the best time to set straw- 

 berry plants. Have thousands of them. 

 Prices cheap. Remember I am the celery 

 man. WAKKKN SHINN, Woodbury. N. J. 



COLDWELL LAWN MOWERS 



Hand— Horse — Motor 

 Known All Over the World 



Catalogue on Request. 



NEWBURGH, N. Y. 



l=>EAOI-l TREES 



Remember I am the celery man. Can 



,1 ually as well with you on peach 



trees , [Hper. Also on other stock 



and forcing asparagus roots 



WAKKKN SHINN, Woodbury, N. J- 



