6o 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



nia) be able to get seed, but only a small 

 portion of it will germinate. The season 

 in Canada is too short to enable the seed to 

 mature properly every sea^5on. 



" Were we to rely for our supply on the 

 Canadian crop there would be many years 

 when we would not have any seed for our 

 customers. In California conditions arc 

 (li liferent. The season there is long and 

 dry, and a good crop of seed is secured 

 practically every year. California is better 

 in this respect than Connecticut, where 

 some of our seed comes from, as the atmos- 

 phere in Connecticut is often -so moist, on 

 account of the nearness of the ocean, that 

 difhculty is experienced in obtaining good 

 seed." 



"Is there not," was asked, "a danger 

 that seed secured under such ditferent cli- 

 matic conditions will not be suitable for the 

 purpose of Canadian growers?" 



■■ We guard against that." ^Nlr. Annan- 

 dale replied, " by carefully testing the seed 

 before we ofifer it for sale. For this pur- 

 pose we have established trial grounds, 

 comprising about seven acres, in the east- 

 ern part of the city. Samples of the seed 

 received /from the different countries are 

 taken and sown under conditions approach- 

 ing as near as possible those under which 

 the seed is finally to be sown. Where the 

 seed is to be sown in the open we sow it in 

 the open on our trial grounds. If the seed 

 of bulbs are of some delicate plant or vege- 

 table we first plant them in the greenhouses, 

 which we have had erected specially for that 

 purpose, and later transplant the plants to 

 the open. This work has grown so rapidly 

 we have had to add one greenhouse after 

 another until now the greenhouses cover 

 about an acre of ground. A careful record 

 is kept of the percentage of seed from each 

 lot which germinates. If the percentage 

 is low we do not sell that seed." 



" How," was asked, " do you manage to 

 make your arrangements with the growers 

 in so many different countries, and how do 



you make certain that they are giving pro- 

 per attention to the work?" 



" We have found it necessary," replied 

 Mr. x\nnandale, " to send representatives 

 to these different sections and countries, 

 who arrange with the growers at first hand. 

 Some of the growers in Canada and the 

 L'nited States are visited two and three 

 times a year. Our business in flower seeds 

 and bulbs is not large enough to warrant us 

 in sending a representative to such places- 

 as Bcrnmda and Japan so often. These 

 points are not visited more than once vx 

 three years." 



" What guarantee have you," was next 

 asked, " that the growers will send you good 

 seed?" " If," replied Mr. Annandale, " we 

 find, after testing the seed on our trial 

 grounds, that certain growers are not send- 

 ing us seed of high quality we immediately 

 warn them, and if necessary break off our 

 contracts with them. Some of the grow- 

 ers with whom we deal have been sending 

 us seed for years and we have found them 

 so reliable we hardly deem it necessary to 

 even test their seed. The rule for good 

 seed is that 85 per cent, should germinate, 

 though in some cases, such as sweet corn, 

 up to 100 per cent, will grow, while in some 

 other seeds 85 is a high percentage. 



" Some seeds," continued Mr. Annan- 

 dale, " are very costly. A consignment of 

 cauliflower recently received is worth $28 

 per pound, and a calceolaria, not a new 

 variety, costs $40 per ounce. Some varie- 

 ties are sold by the thousand seeds and are 

 so fine that we have considerable difficulty 

 handling them as they have to be counted 

 under the magnifying glass." 



THE BUSINESS DEPARTMENT. 



The representative of The Horticulturist 

 was much interested in certain features of 

 the business that were pointed out to him by 

 Mr. Annandale in connection with a visit 

 to the wholesale premises on Front street, 

 Toronto. Although the start of the Steele, 

 Briggs Seed Co., ^i- years ago, was a hum- 



