14 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



almost worthless materials under the guise of their having some 

 merit. Farmers should not be induced to buy these materials 

 which are offered at low prices until they have proof of their 

 worth; at the same time, we should do all in our power to 

 have legitimate experimental work conducted on all promising 

 substitutes for the fertilizers we are now using. 



Seed Situation for 1918. 



The war has had a very stimulating effect on the production 

 of farm and garden seeds in the United States. Many seeds, 

 the supply of which we formerly relied on Europe for, are now 

 being produced in this country in large commercial quantities. 

 This is a branch of specialty farming which should certainly be 

 retained in this country, and for certain kinds of garden seeds 

 Massachusetts farms are well adapted. Seed growing, however, 

 is a branch of farming which requires an unusual combination 

 of skill, knowledge and experience. Our agricultural college 

 must plan to offer some practical courses in commercial seed 

 growing, in order to give men who desire to go into this work 

 at least the fundamental principles of the business. 



The Bureau of Markets of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture now maintains a seed-reporting service, and the 

 stock on hand July 1, 1918, the commercial acreage of seeds 

 planted during the past year, and the estimated production, all 

 show large increases over the previous year. This is notably 

 the case with spinach, which reached an extremely high price 

 in 1917. On July 1 the stock on hand of this seed was two 

 and one-half times that of the previous year, and 3,942 acres of 

 this crop were planted for seed as against 1,415 acres in 1917. 

 The estimated production is given as 1,560,000 pounds against 

 200,000 in the previous year. This should result in lower 

 prices, which will certanly be welcome news to the market 

 gardeners. The same prevails in a less degree in such garden 

 seeds as beans, beets, carrots, onions, parsnips, peas and sweet 

 corn. With a few crops, notably cabbage, cucumbers and 

 lettuce, domestic production has been less than a year ago. 



In the field of farm seeds wheat will of course be high, owing 

 to the government-fixed price. Corn will be in good quantity 

 and well-ripened, which was not the case a year ago. The 



