62 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



equal. I should test seed from different sources, and I would 

 be guided by the result of my vitality tests in my purchases 

 very largely; but I don't think many seedsmen intend to 

 sell seed of low vitality, — reputable seedsmen, — and I 

 think their tests are generally more reliable than the tests 

 of the ordinary user. 



Mr. William II. Bowker (of Boston). I think the young 

 man [Mr. Lewis] has struck the pith of this matter. I do 

 not think the gentleman from Washington quite understood 

 the point he was making. The question, it seems to me, is 

 this : Shall the seedsmen be obliged by law to guarantee the 

 purity and vitality of their seeds ? Why should not my 

 friend Rawson be obliged to " state what he sells and to sell 

 what he states " in connection with seeds, as I am obliged 

 to do in connection with fertilizers ? For over thirty years 

 the fertilizer manufacturers in this State have been obliged 

 to guarantee the quality of their goods ; to pay license fees 

 for the privilege of doing business in the State, which license 

 fees have paid the cost of inspection. State inspectors have 

 drawn samples in the open market, carefully tested them, and 

 put us on record, and I want to say that it has been the best 

 thing that ever happened to the industry. No reputable 

 fertilizer manufacturer would to-day do away with official 

 inspection. Shall the seedsmen be held up to the same sort 

 of inspection? Shall we have a department at Amherst for 

 inspecting seeds, the same as we have for inspecting feeds 

 and fertilizers, and the same as we have in the office of the 

 Board of Health for the inspection of milk ? I would like 

 to ask the gentleman from the Department of Agriculture in 

 Washington if he would suggest that we conduct at the ex- 

 periment station a line of tests that would bear directly not 

 only upon the purity but the vitality of seeds? Should we 

 attempt, as they did in Iowa, to test, for example, the corn 

 which is sold and planted in the State ? In Iowa I think 

 they found samples of which only 50 or 60 per cent would 

 germinate. If the farmers could be sure that at least 90 per 

 cent would germinate under normal conditions, would it 

 not be a tremendous help to them ? 



Mr. Tbacy. I am willing there should be a law compelling 



