SEED SELECTION AND PLANTING 155 



and his purchase of seeds for the past eighteen 

 years has run up into the thousands of dollars 

 each year. He is now writing from experience 

 and wants to emphasize the truth that you must 

 learn the "seed game" if you wish to avoid finan- 

 cial loss and much worry. 



It is also important that you know the locality 

 in which your seeds have been grown, for it is a 

 fact that the seeds of certain plants grown in the 

 irrigated regions of the West will not germinate 

 forty per cent, if kept over one year, and that seeds 

 grown in a mild climate will germinate in a colder 

 climate, but the plants that spring from them are 

 unable to endure the tests found in the more severe 

 climate. 



5th. Adulteration and Misbranding. The 

 author can hardly write upon this head with that 

 composure one should possess to write unbiasedly. 



If the adulteration of seeds were made a crime 

 punishable with the punishments of the Inquisi- 

 tion, the punishment would be none too severe. 

 And why should he not write with righteous indig- 

 nation upon this subject ? For the past eight years 

 he has learned from experience and investigation 

 of the great fertilizing value of the vetch plant. 

 By much writing in farm journals and through his 

 Book of Vetch he has attempted to disseminate 

 the virtues of this plant to those who are engaged 

 in the business of farming. But what was his 

 consternation when he learned that many had 

 failed with the plant; and what was his indigna- 

 tion when he learned that the cause of the failures 

 was adulteration and misbranding of vetch seed. 

 The government through its agricultural depart- 



