69 



There can be no good vegetables without good seed ; and 

 the more hands seed passes through before reaching the end 

 of its journey — the seed drill of the farmer, the greater the 

 chances are of its being too old, impure, or wrongly named. 

 I hold, therefore, that the Essex Agricultural Society has done 

 a wise thing in directing its attention of late years to the mat- 

 ter, and offering special premiums for seed grown within the 

 limits of the county. It is very difficult for the farmer who 

 has had the misfortune to handle worthless seed, to fix the re- 

 sponsibility on any one ; it has passed through several hands, 

 and " he told me so," is the catch phrase of the entire series ; 

 but let the seed be grown in his own neighborhood and the di- 

 rect responsibility is a powerful stimulus to the utmost honesty 

 and highest care on the part of the grower, while it propor- 

 tionally increases the confidence and profits of the planter. 

 There are three positions taken by prominent societies in New 

 England in respect to the exhibition of vegetable seed : the 

 Massachusetts Horticultural Society not only does not offer 

 any premiums for vegetable seed, but goes farther than this, 

 and positively refuses to have any exhibited on its tables. As 

 several of the prominent men who are active members of that 

 society are seed dealers this action appears anomalous ; but a 

 knowledge of the fact that under the by-laws of that society 

 the exhibitor must have grown his own seed, naturally tones 

 down all surprise. The New England Society offers premiums 

 simply for garden seed, without any condition that it shall have 

 been grown in or out of New England, or that the exhibiter 

 shall have raised a grain of it. The obvious effect of such a 

 course is simply to encourage the production of seed as a com- 

 mercial article. Our own Society in offering premiums for a 

 home grown product, encourages a very important branch of 

 agriculture in our midst, annihilates the vast intervals that usu- 

 ally exist between the producer and the planter, and keeps a 

 wholesome responsibility within easy access of the purchaser. 



Eor the Committee — James J, H. Gregory. 



