SOME EFFECTS OF THE WAR UPON THE SEED 

 INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



By W. A. WHEELER, Kiwialifst in Seed Marketing, ami G. C. EDLEK, 

 Inrc*t!<fat*>r in Seed Marketing, Bureau of Markets. 



MORE SEEDS WILL BE HOME GROWN. 



ONE of the basic agricultural industries that have under- 

 gon$ man}' changes, influenced by the war, is the seed 

 industry in the United States. Doubtless some of these 

 changed conditions will become permanent features of the 

 industry, with the result that this country will tend to be- 

 come more independent of the world's supply of seeds. It 

 is perhaps true that in the production of certain kinds of 

 vegetable seeds the United States has not reached the same 

 degree of perfection that some other countries have reached 

 after many years and generations of specialized effort; yet, 

 at the same time, few, if any, countries have ever made the 

 rapid strides in vegetable-seed production that this country 

 did during the war.. 



Many of the effects that have been noted may or may not 

 be permanent. It is too soon after the close of the war to 

 prognosticate their permanency, but their future is worthy 

 of careful study at this time. Often it is difficult to differ- 

 entiate between those effects that are traceable directly to the 

 war and those that are an indirect result of the war, but 

 some of those that have been noted are discussed rather 

 briefly in this article. 



EFFECT OF THE WAR UPON IMPORTS AND EXPORTS. 



In Table 1 are given figures compiled from data obtained 

 from the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, of 

 the Department of Commerce, showing the imports of the 

 United States during the first year after our entry into the 

 war, and our average annual imports during the three-year 

 war period ending June 30, 1917, as compared with the 

 average annual imports before the war for a five-year period 

 ending June 30, 1914. A study of these figures will reveal 

 the fact that of practically all field and vegetable seeds used 



103014: 19 - 1 q 



4fl I 373 



