S4 



The Florists' 



._..,jv-vff-,;' 



'■'^>'.^.»rr'' r-N-v 



JVLX 9. 1914. 



There are said to be some good pieces 

 4jf sweet peas in California, but we don't 

 know whose they are. To hear the grow- 

 ers tell it, things are pretty bad. 



W. W. Baknaed, of the W. W. Bar- 

 nard Co., Chicago, left July 3 for Salt 

 Lake City, from which point he will 

 start on an extensive automobile trip 

 through the different pea fields of Idaho 

 and Utah. 



It few been a great yp*x for beans. 

 Not only has the demand el«aned up the 

 short supply after a faeliion not known 

 in yeftrs, but growers h&va taken hold 

 in good shape for the 1914 crop. Plant- 

 ing has been going on steadily all 

 throi^fa June. 



ABt)UT July 15 the Empire Seed Co. 

 will open for business at 144 Clinton 

 street, Schenectady, N. Y. Wholesale 

 and retail seeds and poultry supplies 

 will be carried. Harry N. Stevens and 

 C. D. Filkins will be connected with the 

 seed department, and Harry J. Fuller, 

 secretary of the Schenectady Poultry 

 Fanciers' Association, will be general 

 salesman of the poultry department. 



SEED TBADE CUSTOMS UPHELD. 



^'^ An UnusaaUy Broad Decision. 



Although the validity of the seed 

 trade's disclaimer previously has been 

 upheld by the courts in Wisconsin, prob- 

 ably no more interesting case ever has 

 been decided than that of Ross vs. 

 Northrup, King & Co., recently passed 

 upon by the Wisconsin Supreme court. 

 While in its main feature it is a 

 straight disclaimer case, embodying a 

 broad recognition of the binding force 

 of the trade custom, it also includes a 

 number of special features never be- 

 fore passed upon by a court of last re- 

 sort. The opinion of the court is of 



such wide general interest in the trade 

 that it is given here in full: . . 



Summary of Points Covered. 



1. Principal and Agent; Creation of 

 Agency. — Where a seed company is- 

 sued advertisements containing a blank 

 coupon to be used in ordering its cata- 

 logue, in which there was a blank 

 space for the insertion of the name 

 of the local dealer of the prospective 

 customer, that did not render the cus- 

 tomer's local dealer the agent of the 

 seed company. 



2. Principal and Agent; Undisclosed 

 Principal. — Where plaintiff had a local 

 dealer purchase seeds for him from de- 

 fendant, plaintiff's rigljts against de- 

 fendant, because of the unfitness of 

 the seeds for the purpose ordered, must 

 be measured by those of the dealer, 

 plaintiff at most being only an undis- 

 closed principal. 



3. Sales; Warranties; Implied War- 

 ranty. — Where a certain variety of 

 seed is ordered and the seller furnishes 

 seed in response to the order, there is 

 an implied warranty that it is true to 

 description, unless the seller advises 

 the purchaser that the sale is made 

 without warranty. 



4. Sales; Warranties. — By express 

 declaration, a seller may relieve itself 

 of the implied warranty that the arti- 

 cle sold fits the description of the goods 

 ordered. 



5. Sales; Warranties; Relief from 

 Express Warranty. — Where the cata- 

 logue of a seed company contained a 

 printed disclaimer of any warranty, and 

 the shipping tag also declared the same 

 fact as did the invoice of the ship- 

 ment, which recited that, if the pur- 

 chaser would not accept the goods on 

 those terms, they might be returned, 

 and the money refunded, a purchaser 

 of seed is bound by the disclaimers, and 



cannot recover on an implied warranty 

 that the seed furnished should be of 

 the kind ordered, for the law requires 

 men, in their destlings with each other, 

 to exercise proper vigijai^cfl And apply 

 their attention to those matters tiiat 

 may be supposed to J)» within the reach 

 of their observation. 



6. Sales; Duty of Pnrchaseh — Wh»re 

 a purchaser is put upon inquiry as to 

 the quality of the thing offered for 

 sale, he is bound to know what is dis- 

 coverable in regard thereto by the 

 exercise of ordinary care. 



7. Contracts; Obligation of Con- 

 tracts; Relief. — A mafi cannot relieve 

 himself from the obligation of a writ- 

 ten agreement by showing that he did 

 not read it when he signed it, or did 

 not know what it contained. 



8. Carriers; Bill of Lading; Delivery; 

 Presumptions. — The delivery and ac- 

 ceptance of a 1}ill of lading and invoice 

 raises a presumption that the party 

 receiving it assented to its terms. 



9. Customs and Usages; Construc- 

 tion; General Custom. — Ignorance of a 

 general custom will not relieve a party 

 from the effect of it, and hence, where 

 there was a general custom among seeds- 

 men not to warrant their seeds, a pur- 

 chaser is bound by the custom, al- 

 though he was not familiar with it. 



10. Principal and Agent; Duty of 

 Agent. — Where a local dealer was the 

 agent botTi for plaintiff, the purchaser 

 of seed, and defendant, the seller of 

 seed, the local dealer is bound to com- 

 municate to plaintiff the knowledge 

 with which he is chargeable, and, where 

 he was chargeable with knowledge that 

 there was no warranty, plaintiff can- 

 not recover for a breach of the implied 

 warranty that tie seed was of the kind 

 ordered. 



11. Customs and Usages; Warranties; 

 General Custom. — Where there is a gen- 



Anntal Banquet of the Americao Seed Trade Association, Held at Washington, D. Cn June 24, 19)4. 



