216 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan. 



by the man who sells you shoddy cloth. If it is ever done, 

 it has got to be done in New England by the farmer. 



Mr. Gaffney of Worcester. I can see how this thinsr 

 may be worked in reference to oats or grass seed ; but where 

 is the inspector who can take onion and turnip and cabbage 

 seed, and say that that seed is this and that seed is the other? 

 He may say it is onion seed, but what advantage is it going 

 to be to the gardener to have a law of that kind ? There is 

 no seedsman in this country who will sell seed under a writ- 

 ten guarantee. Every seed package that you buy at the 

 present time has printed on it in plain letters : "We do not 

 guarantee a crop, and if these seeds are not taken under that 

 condition they must be returned immediately." Now, there 

 might be an inspector who should look over the seed ; but, 

 as far as obliging the dealers to guarantee the seed, that is 

 practically impossible. 



Mr. Edson of Barnstable. I think we are a little hasty 

 about these laws. We farmers do not like to pay any more 

 for our seeds than we are obliged to. ' What seedsman is 

 going to guarantee all his seed without compensation ? If 

 such a law is passed, shall we not have to pay five times 

 what we are paying to-day for our seed ? If such a law is 

 passed and enforced, it will drive out a large part of the 

 merchants who are selling seed, and those who are left in 

 the business will put up the price to cover all damages, and 

 we will have to pay it. 



Mr. Record of Worcester. I would like to say a word 

 in reference to the point the last gentleman made. I have 

 for the last fifteen or sixteen years been in the market gar- 

 dening business, and have learned to value good seed so 

 highly that when I can get the very best seed possible I 

 would not even take a gift of poor seed, and when I can get 

 just what I want, the cost does not amount to a snap of the 

 finger. I think we can afford to pay the price that is neces- 

 sary to get the very best seed. It will be for our interest. 



Mr. Brown of Westborough. In ray opinion, something 

 ought to be done in the way of legislation on this subject. 

 For many years I raised seeds for the Boston dealers, and I 

 remember once selling quite a quantity of seed to a dealer, 

 and he remarked, after he had completed the purchase, 



