STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 191 



mands of the hour, and has caused him to strain every nerve to 

 meet them. The result — many new and valuable acquisitions. 



It has also proven a strong incentive to unprincipled seedsmen 

 to take some old and half forgotten variety, re-christen it, invest 

 it with the combined virtues of all vegetables, and by the 

 liberal use of printers' ink, spread it broadcast over the land at 

 a fancy price. I think, I may say that fully two-thirds of the 

 novelties to-day listed in the catalogues of leading seedsmen are 

 standard varieties slightly improved upon, perhaps, or old and 

 worn out sorts renamed. 



It seems also to be the aim of seedsmen (speaking as a class) 

 whenever they get hold of a good thing to give it another name, 

 so that their competitors will not know what it is, or for some 

 other wily purj^ose. 



Old varieties, too, which were yesterday considered good, are 

 to-day thrown aside for something else. Still the seedsman receives 

 calls for them and is obliged to keep them on his list. Thus we 

 find Carter's First Crop, Daniel O'Eourke, Philadelphia Extra 

 Early, Caractacus Early Frame, Early May, and Early Kent 

 Peas, listed in the catalogue under different names and at differ- 

 ent prices, and the chances are they came out of one bin, and 

 while once good and valuable varieties, have lost their distin- 

 guishing characteristics through this process. 



Peas have been taken throughout to illustrate the points 

 touched upon, and the same facts apply to almost every specie 

 of vegetable seeds, though, perhaps, not to so great an extent. 



The evils resulting are apparent. Much confusion arises in re- 

 gard to varieties The purchaser sends his half-dollar for some 

 novelty selected from the catalogue and finds that he has some 

 old kind that takes him back in memory to his boyhood days. 



The seedsman, in order to have a full list, issues a catalogue at 

 an expense of thousands of dollars, which must in some way be 

 paid for from the pocket of the purchaser. 



What can be done to avoid these manifest and growing evils ? 

 Hon. Marshall P. Wilder and Dr. Sturtevant, of the IS'ew York 

 Experimental Station are doing good work in this directio n, but 

 the real and only remedy lies in the hands of the purchaser and 

 the seedsman. 



Many seedsmen arej driven to the resort from the fact that 

 strong competition, the fight for business, and the public demand 

 have reduced thefp rices on standard varieties to so low a point 

 that they cannot.make their expenses, and are obliged to depend 

 largely upon the'novelties they offer. 



