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106 



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The Florists^ Review 



Jdlt 15. 1920 



From this acre he obtains enough seed 

 to plant a field. From the field seed is 

 obtained in sufficient quantity to sell to 

 neighbors and others, or to seedsmen. 



As these improved varieties are 

 among the best available for general 

 use, seedsmen might well be among the 

 active agencies assisting in their distri- 

 bution. The ideal arrangement would 

 be one where the entire output of the 

 growers would be absorbed and dis- 

 tributed in the general market by the 

 seedsmen. The consummation of such 

 a plan rests largely with the seedsmen. 

 Unless sufficient cooperation is estab- 

 lished, crop breeders' associations are 

 almost certain to become increasingly 

 strong competitors of the seedsmen. 



Improper Iiabeling. 



Seed inspectors sometimes wonder 

 whether seedsmen and seed dealers who 

 sell impure or improperly labeled seeds 

 have fully considered the final result of 

 such practices. The farmer is not 

 damaged particularly by having pur- 

 chased for more than they were worth 

 crop seeds containing a small quantity 

 of weed seeds. His loss lies in the re- 

 duced yields of crops and, if the foreign 

 seeds happen to be those of weeds which 

 are hard to destroy, a much greater loss 

 results because of the otherwise un- 

 necessary labor required to eradicate 

 the weeds. Decreased production means 

 decreased income, which, in turn, means 

 lower purchasing power. Should such 

 conditions become general, the pros- 

 perity of everyone concerned would be 

 menaced, even that of the seedsmen 

 themselves. 



Seed Mixtures. 



Many samples of seed mixtures, 

 especially hay and meadow mixtures, 

 are offered annually to the farmers of 

 Wisconsin. Alsike and timothy, red 

 clover and timothy, and alsike, red 

 clover and timothy are the popular 

 mixtures. Some dealers fail to observe 

 the rule that the seed constituting the 

 major portion of the mixture shall be 

 named first, though knowing that the 

 purchaser is taking its observance for 

 granted. Some dealers also label mix- 

 tures with what appears to be the 

 actual percentages, invariably making 

 the clover percentage too high. If the 

 purchaser is planning to raise the clover 

 to feed his dairy cattle for high milk 

 production, the loss is serious. Usually 

 farmers who purchase these mixtures do 

 so with the idea of using the fields on 

 which they are sown for hay, depending 

 upon the clover for the first year and 

 timothy and alsike or mammoth for the 

 second year. The seed is sown with a 

 nurse crop of grain, which is removed 

 about the middle of the summer. 



Severe loss to the farmer results when 

 mixtures of "clover and timothy" con- 

 tain from sixteen to twenty per cent, 

 by weight, of the seeds of crimson or 

 annual yellow blossom sweet clover, as 

 was the case with mixtures offered by 

 certain seed companies this season. Both 

 these plants are distinctly inferior un- 

 der Wisconsin conditions and will not 

 produce decent pasture even in the first 

 year. They winter-kill, leaving the 

 farmer from sixteen to twenty per cent 

 short of a hay crop. 



Hard Seeds. 



This year's clover seed crop in Wis- 

 consin has shown an exceptionally high 

 percentage of hard seeds, ranging from 

 eight to forty-two per cent, with an 

 average of fifteen per cefat. The seeds 



P. Vos & Son 



Mt. Clemens, Mich. GLADIOLI 



Growers of 

 New and Choice 



liriVr'C Ir"» Peonies, 

 WlJlll Dahlias, Gladioli 



"Specjo/ute to the Connoisaeur" 



THE WING SEED CO., MechiucdiBrf, OUo 

 Write for wholesale price lists 



NATIONAL BULB FARMS, he. 



B*ntoii Harbor, Miehican 



Gladioli, Dahlias, Peonies 



and Hardy Perennials. 

 300 acres under cultivation 



show no sign of decay or of germination 

 at the end of the usual period of five 

 days. Investigation in seed laboratories, 

 state and national, shows that these 

 seeds may fail to germinate in time to 

 be of any value to the Wisconsin farmer 

 who maintains a 4-year rotation of 

 crops; they may simply perpetuate the 

 species by producing plants several 

 years later. What value to give these 

 seeds is a puzzle, especially when it is 

 probable that the so-called hard seeds 

 are the best matured and contain the 

 highest reserve of plant food to start 

 off the young plant whenever the seed 



GLADIOLI 



Please oeod for my aaotatioiio on Urge or 

 ■mall Quantitieo of all the leading varietiei. 



JELLE ROOS 



GLADIOLUS SPECIALIST 

 Dept. A CONCORD, MASS. 



United Bulb Co. 



THE HOME OF CHOICE GLADIOU. 

 Box A, Mount Clemens, Mieb. 



Ask for our prices on Tulips, Hyacinths, 

 Daffodils, Etc. 



does grow. As the highest percentages 

 of hard seeds are usually found in seeds 

 of the finest appearance, which, of 

 course, are the highest-priced, to in- 

 crease the rate of seeding from fifteen 

 to thirty per cent, in order to make up 

 for the loss from ungerminated seeds, 

 will amount to no small item at present 

 prices. 



Scarification of the seed is the partial 

 answer to the question, but to scarify 

 the seed of an entire crop wherever 

 seed is handled is a big undertaking. 

 Some investigators claim that scarifica- 

 tion produces rapid deterioration in the 



