58 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTUKAL SOCIETY. 



tvol methods in the United States. Such methods would benefit 

 the first-class seedsmen fully as much, if not more, than the 

 consumers themselves. 



As it now is even the man who pays a high price for seed 

 cannot always get it, though, on the other hand, it should be 

 noted that some farmers get poor seed because it costs less than 

 a good quality, and therefore they consider it cheap. No intel- 

 ligent man needs to be told that such seed is dear at any price, 

 and likely to entail a long series of losses from the fouling of his 

 land and the introduction of inferior strains of agriciiltural plants. 



Poor seed may be classified as follows : 



1. Impure. 



2. Not true to name. 



3. Of low vitality. 



Impurities may be either accidental, due to imperfect handling 

 or cleaning, such as weed seeds, chaif, dirt, and foreign seeds; or 

 the result of deliberate fraud, as " killed " seed, artificially col- 

 ored sand, admixtures of seeds of inferior value, etc. If the 

 impurity consists only of inert matter, i.e., sand, chaff, and 

 " killed " seeds, the wrong lies in the fact that the buyer pays 

 for something which is of no value, but Avhich cannot injure his 

 land or crops. On the other hand, where seeds of weeds occur 

 the farmer not only sows but carefully cultivates plants which 

 are not only usurping the place of the crops he desires, but may 

 even poison his family and stock. This last statement is an 

 extreme case, but one not at all uncommon. 



If the seeds are not true to name a great loss is entailed to the 

 farmer from the fact that an entire crop, with all the cost and 

 labor it implies, has been wasted. However, in cases of this 

 kind, e.ff., if a gardener plants a field to some particular variety 

 of radish and it turns out to be totally different from the kind 

 ordered, the buyer has heretofore had redress by claiming dam- 

 ages agaiiist the seedsman for obtaining money by false ])retense. 

 Numerous cases of this kind have occurred in America, but 

 dealers are usually careful to avoid such difficulties. 



With regard to Aveed seeds, upon which much stress is laid by 

 Seed Control Stations, it is possible that their baneful effects are 

 sometimes overestimated by those forming an opinion on the 

 value of commercial seed, judged from the standpoint of the 



