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74 



The Rorists' Review 



June 26, 1919. 



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NEWS OF THE SEED TRADE 



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the man who haa no established connec- 

 tion with the consumers of those items. 

 The growers are the only members of the 

 trade who are worried; a smaller part 

 of their plantings than usual is sold on 

 contract and at the moment the market 

 is decidedly inactive. But confidence is 

 strong for the reason that the consump- 

 tive demand is as certain as the sea- 

 sons and unquestionably increases with 

 the population; besides, American seeds- 

 men now have possibilities of a foreign 

 market heretofore unknown. 



Getting Down to Business. 



President Frank W. Bolgiano, whose 

 war work will ever be held in thankful 

 remembraiice by the seed trade, started 

 the convention without formality June 

 24, reading an address which mainly 

 was a description of the association's 

 activities during the war. 



In his report as secretary, C. E. Ken- 

 del showed a gain of eighteen mem- 

 bers last year, the loss of six and a 

 present roster of 234, three of whom 

 ace honorary. 



As treasurer Mr. Kendel showed finan- 

 cial operations summarized as follows: 



Balance $2,199.21 



Receipts 6,448.38 



Total ; $8,647,59 



Disbursements 7,451.24 



Balance $1,196.35 



Of the total expenditure of $7,451.24, 

 it was shown that $4,504 went to coun- 

 sel, $3,750 for retainer and $754 for ex- 

 penses. Th« reports were referred to 

 an aud^fmgVcommittee consisting of 

 Francis Stokes, L. W. Wheeler and J. 

 M. Lupton. 



The by-laws were amended to change 

 the number of members of the mem- 

 bership committee from three to five. 

 An amendment designed to place the ex- 

 penditure of money under the complete 

 control of the executive committee was 

 voted down. 



Secretary Kendel outlined a sugges- 

 tion for putting the dues on a scale ac- 

 cording to the size of each member's 

 business, designed to raise $10,000 per 

 year, but no discussion or action fol- 

 lowed^. 



As the first session began to break up, 

 Watson S. Woodruff said that probably 

 so many men would not be together 

 again and called for a roll call, Eotarian 

 style, this feature having proved es- 

 pecially interesting as the younger men 

 have come to participate in the affairs 

 of the .association. 



Committee Reports. 



It has not been an eventful year in 

 the affairs of the American Seed Trade 

 Association except as the war touched 

 its activities and this influence, happily, 

 ceased several months ago. The result 

 was that most of the committee reports 

 were brief and had to do with the period 

 prior to November 11. The war service 

 committees' work was of the greatest 

 importance and was covered in the ad- 

 dress of President Bolgiano. 



The standing committees and their 



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THE CHICAGO CONVENTION. 



Trade's Annual Conference in Progress. 



The convention of the American Seed 

 Trade Association is being held this 

 week at the Hotel Sherman, Chicago, 

 under conditions that have become 

 ritual through thirty-seven annual "repe- 

 titions of the program with only minor 

 variations. To employ a phrase wholly 

 new and entirely original, the seed 

 trade conventions are as alike as the 

 peas in a pod, a metaphor which, if not 

 accepted as coined for the occasion, 

 will be recognized as strikingly apt be- 

 cause, as wjth the peas, so with the con- 

 ventions — the principal difference is in 

 size. This is a big one, like the pea in 

 the middle of the pod. 



The American Seed Trade Associa- 

 tion has 234 members. Last year the 

 initiation fee was raised to $50 and the 

 annual dues to $25. It has not affected 

 the membership at all. Of course the 

 members are not all present or repre- 

 sented, but as a large percentage of the 

 members now are corporations of con- 

 siderable size, sending more than one 

 , representative, the attendance at the 

 conventions increases as- the members 

 grow, which is faster than the member- 

 ship grows. There must be close to 400 

 present, counting members, their repre- 

 sentatives, their wives and the con- 

 stantly increasing number of camp fol- 

 lowers, though really these latter seem 

 to get little for their pains. 

 . There never has been a convention 

 which brought together so many seed 

 growers. The Californians especially 

 are well represented, only one of the 

 well known houses being absent, with 

 A number present who have not been 

 seen in years. It is the state of the 

 market that has brought them out. 



Past and Prospect. 



The real work of the association is 

 done elsewhere than in the open meet- 

 ings of the convention; were it for 

 these alone not many members, prob- 

 abl.v, would make long journeys to be 

 pr(^sent. What they come for is to talk 

 things over in little groups. There is 

 some buying and selling, but not much 

 by comparison with the annual volume 

 and authority represented; the big idea 

 is to renew personal acquaintance and 

 to learn what one can for future use. 



President Bolgiano summed up the 

 business situation when he said, in his 

 opening address: "The prosperity of 

 the trade has been general. Abundant 

 crops have again filled our warehouses 

 to a greater extent than we have had 

 in years, but a bare market and a hun- 

 gry world have taken largely of what 

 we might have feared, early in the sea- 

 son, would be unprofitable surplus." 

 It has been a good season for seed mer- 

 chants, but a poor year for seed specu- 

 lators. 



There are more seeds today than a 

 year ago, and there were plenty then. 

 There may be quantities of seeds which 

 are not today worth what was paid for 

 them, but they afford concern only to 



chairmen, most of whom reported brief- 

 ly, are: 



Legislative — J. M. Lupton. 



Postal Laws — W. F. Tlierlcildson. 



Experiment Stations — L. L. Olds. 



Obituary Besolutions — C. N. Keeney. 



Tariffs— J. C. Vaughan. 



Oriental Farm Labor — Waldo Rohnert. 



Standardization of Field Seeds — C. C. Massle.-" 



There also was a report from Curtis 

 Nye Smith, who \b counsel for the Seed 

 Trade Association and also counsel for 

 the American Association of Nursery- 

 men. 



In Mr. Therkildson's report on postal 

 affairs attention was called to House 

 Resolution 1127, which, if it should be- 

 come law, will require the inspection 

 of every parcel going through the mails 

 containing live plants, by an authorized 

 inspector of the state in which the ad- 

 dressee lives, before the postmaster can 

 deliver to the addressee. This affects 

 so many seedsmen's interests that it 

 was referred to a special committee for 

 appropriate action. 



The representative of William Henry 

 Maule, Philadelphia, followed Mr. Ther- 

 kildson with a statement of his experi- 

 ence with the postoffice regulations re- 

 garding the blank space on catalogue 

 envelopes. Others related similar and 

 various experiences and every seedsman 

 was cautioned to get the written O. K. 

 of his local postmaster on his catalogue 

 envelopes before ordering the printing. 



By Their Company Know Them. 



The committee posted the following 

 list of proposals for membership: 



Hogue-Kellogg Co., Ventura, Cal., proposed by 

 J. C. Bodger & Sons Co. 



H. C. King & Sons, Battle Creels, Mich., pro- 

 posed by E. E. Dungan. 



Binding Stevens Co., Tulsa, Okla., proposed by 

 Schisler-Corneli Seed Co. 



Arizona Seed & Floral Co., Phoenix, Ariz., pro- 

 posed by Phoenix Seed & Feed Co. 



A. Henderson & Co., Chicago, proposed by 

 Northrup, King & Co. 



Adams Seed Co., Decorah, la., proposed by 

 Sioux City Seed Co. 



Russell-Heckle Seed Co., Memphis, Tenn., pro- 

 posed by D. M. Ferry & Co. 



John A. Bruce & Co., Ltd., Hamilton, Ont., 

 proposed by D. M. Ferry & Co. 



Beckert's Seed Store, Pittsburgh, proposed by 

 David Burpee. 



E. A. Martin Seed Co., .Tacksonville, Fla., 

 proposed by Jerome B. Rice Seed Co. 



Greill Bros. Co., Montgomery, Ala., proposed 

 by John H. Allan Seed Co. 



Gardner Seed Co., Rochester, N. Y., proposed 

 by Kirby B. White. 



L. P. Gunson & Co., Rochester, N. Y., proposed 

 by Jerome B. Rice Seed Co. 



H. W. Gordinler & Sons Co., Troy, N. Y., 

 proposed by Jerome B. Rice Seed Co. 



Geo. W. Higbie & Co., Rochester, N. Y., pro- 

 posed by Jerome B. Rice Seed Co. 



Papers and Addresses. 



Edgar Brown, of the U. S. Department 

 of Agriculture, threw a bomb into the 

 ranks of the association when he read 

 his carefully prepared paper entitled 

 "Is Seed Testing Worth While?" Mr. 

 Brown asserted that it is not worth 

 while for the United States government 

 and some of the states to continue ex- 

 pensive seed testing laboratories if the 

 results of the tests are to be used for 

 the advantage of the seed trade alone 

 and that to make government seed test- 

 ing worth while it is necessary for the 

 results of the tests to be passed along 

 to the planters. He described the gen- 

 tlemen's agreement which had been 



