244 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 15. 



warrant them in asking f^200 for 100 lbs. of seed, 

 and this at wholesale. Again. I notice in one 

 of the whole<ale caralogs, "Chicago ^Market 

 nutmeg melon. Colvin's seed. 13.75 per lb.;" 

 and jnst below it we see ordinary seed (from 

 Colvi'n's stock) only :58 cts. per lb. Jnst think 

 of it!— five or six" times the price wanted for 

 genuine Colvin seed, while the cheap seed is 

 raised from the Colvin stock. If this meets the 

 eye of some of the large seedsmen. I wish they 

 would explain, for the benefit of our readers, 

 what makes this difference. Again, we see 

 Osage melon, true stock seed. $2.50 per lb. Or- 

 dinary seed, raised from stock seed, only 33 cts. 

 per lb. And so this goes on all through. 



There is one thing that is rather encouraging 

 tome in these wholesale catalocs. Every litth^ 

 while we find certain seeds marked " Crop fail- 

 ed." We notice this after the Hoosier King 

 watermelon. Well, why didn't they buy some 

 Hoosier King of somebody whose crop did not 

 fail? or is it something so new and rare that 

 nobody else had It? Landreths. in their lists, 

 frequently say of some pretty staple varieties, 

 " Crop failed." 



Some years ago. when I visited Rawson's 

 grounds at Arlington, near Boston, some of you 

 will remember that I saw some beautiful cu- 

 cumbers on a bench. Of course, they were too 

 large for the table: but the shape was superior 

 — in fact they were such models of what we 

 want in the wav of cucumbers— that I inquired 

 about them. The foreman told me they were 

 for "stock seed." When I told him T wanted 

 just a/c7/' of the seeds he said Mr. Rawson did 

 not permit them to cive awav or sell a single 

 seed of this extra choice White Spine cucumber. 

 Mr. Rawson was absent when I made my visit; 

 but when he found I had written up his 

 grounds he made me a present of some of the 

 seeds from those choice cucumber*. We plant- 

 ed them on the creek bottom, and the season. I 

 believe, wa« quite favorable. Well, we had an 

 immense crni) of the finest and nicest cucum- 

 bers that it was ever my good fortune to raise. 

 We sold them all over our town, got a big price 

 for them because they were so handsome, and 

 sold more cucumbers than we had ever sold 

 before or have sold since, and we got an extra 

 price too. Why didn't I save some seed ? 

 Weil, I was too stupid. I though I could buy 

 some of Mr. Rawson. just like it, and that he 

 could save them cheaper than I could. The 

 following season I did buy some of him, and 

 paid him ?:3.00 per lb. for them. You have, 

 many of you. bought them of us, and tried 

 thetri. I bought the seed for stock seed, and we 

 all paid a big p?-ice for it accordinglv. I think 

 that was four or five vears ago. Well. I have 

 never had any cucumbers since like that lot I 

 have mentioned. I ti'ied them on the same 

 ground, but we have had such exceedingly wet 

 seasons that I attributed the failure (partly, at 

 least) to that cause. Well. I have tried them in 

 the greenhouse and on other grounds.' I have 

 tried them beside ordinary White Spine seed, 

 and I reallv could not see vem much difference. 

 Mav be there was some difference after all. 

 Perhaps I may be putting it too strongly. 



At one of the national conventions of seeds- 

 men, somebody told a laughable story about 

 a woman who was a gardemn'. She was some- 

 what illiterate, but she knew the difference 

 between extra seed and common seed. She 

 asked the prices. They told her. Then she 

 looked the dealer square in the face and pro- 

 pounded the following: " Look here. If I pay 

 for the best seed do I get it?" The man who 

 told the story did not say what reply he made. 

 Now, will our experiment stations please help 

 us in this matter by planting some White Spine 

 cucumber seed, worth 30 cts. per lb., and some 



that costs $3.00 per lb., and tell us the differ- 

 ence? Will they please try Chicago Market 

 nutmeg melon and Osage melon in the same 

 way? Why, I would give this minute $10.00 

 per lb. for some cucumber Seed that would pro- 

 duce a crop like the one I have told you of. 

 JNIind yon. I do not know that it was the seed 

 that produced the crop. And. again. I do not 

 know but it, was. Will the experiment stations 

 tell us what they think about it. or what they 

 have already learned in that line? How much 

 have the seeds to do with the outcome? Then 

 there is another trouble. If it really transpires 

 that a certain strain of seed is worth four times 

 as much as that generally sold in the market, 

 we shall be in the same fix as the poor woman — 

 '• If I pay you for the best seed, do T get it?" 

 Some of you may say. " Why, look here, Bro. 

 Root. You are a seed-dealer yourself. How 

 would you answer the poor woman — "If I pay 

 for the best, do I get the best?" That is just 

 what troubles me. If you pay for the very 

 best seed, I am not really sure that you will 

 get what you expect and what I expect ; and 

 have actually meditated giving up selling .seeds 

 because I can not give it the brains and atten- 

 tion it ought to have. This I do insist upon: 

 Every seedsman should have experimental 

 grounds. He should have a test garden where 

 the great wide world — his customers — could be 

 invited in order to see tests and trials made of 

 the seeds he sells : and I should really like to 

 liave the name of the man who grows the seed 

 put conspicuously over the crop. Where is 

 there a seedsman who dare do this? One spring 

 we had a customer who said he wanted 10 lbs. 

 of a certain strain of cabbage seed, providing 

 the seller would tell him who grew that seed. I 

 asked different seedsmen if they could fill the 

 order under these conditions. I did not find 

 one who was willing to tell who grew the seed. 

 In fact, one of them felt a little hurt when I 

 personally mentioned to him the matter. He 

 said thai was his own private affair as to who 

 grew his seeds. There may have been some 

 reason in his po^^ition. for the grower might be 

 greatly annoyed by correspondence he did not 

 want; and he might be annoyed by orders 

 for seeds when he did not wish to have a retail 

 business on his hands. Nothwithstandiiig this, 

 I believe the experiment grounds might have a 

 card telling who grew the seeds that produced 

 a certain crop: but he might aNo say the entire 

 crop belonged to seedsmen. Terry plants his 

 whole farm to Freeman t)otatoes: but he keeps 

 saying all the time, " Don't write me tor pota- 

 toes, for T haven't a potato to sell." J. M. 

 Smith is obligc^d to do the same thing. Now, 

 let these men who grow potatoes or seeds state 

 -clearly that they are (pravers. not retailers. I 

 suppose verv likely it is Terry's name that has 

 given the Freeman potato a part of its great 

 boom. Terry's name, in his strawberry-book, 

 has also created a big demand for the tart 

 Sterling strawberry; but yet Terry keeps say- 

 ing he is not in the strawberry business. In 

 fact, he throws away a wagonjoad of plants 

 every fall in thinning out his beds, because he 

 would rather throw them away than to be 

 bothered with selling them. 



Just now we are retailing great handsome 

 lieads of cabbage for 30. 4(). yes, even 50 cts., a 

 head. They are Holland cabbages. I believe 

 they are larger and finer than any thing I ever 

 grew. Hold on! Seven or eight years ago, 

 when I spoke of these same beautiful cabbages 

 imported from Holland, some friend in the old 

 country sent me some seeds ; and from those 

 seeds I raised the finest cabbage we have ever 

 had, before or since. I supposed then, by buying 

 the cabbage seed to be found in our catalogs, I 

 should get just as good as what was sent me. I 



