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May 18, 1905. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



J5S9 



Seed Trade News. 



AMERICAN SEED TRADE ASSOCIATION. 



Pres., C. N. Page, Des Moines, la.; First Vlce- 

 Pres., L. L. May, St. Paul; Sec'y and Treas., C. E. 

 Kendel, Cleveland. The 23rd annual meeting 

 will be held at Alexandria Bay, N. Y., from June 

 20 to 22, 19U5. 



Peas are reported to be standing the 

 wet weather well. 



The greenhouse men in the vicinity of 

 Chicago are reaping a good profit from 

 cucumbers. 



There is a new strain of greenhouse 

 cucumber which seems to be especially 

 meritorious this season. 



Sweet corn and cucumbers for seed 

 crops will not be planted any earlier than 

 usual if this weather continues. 



Outdoor green crops of home produc- 

 tion have never been so late in coming 

 into market at Chicago as this year. 



Seedsmen having found a poultry 

 department a valuable adjunct, some o*' 

 them are now adding bee-keepers' sup- 

 plies. 



W. Atlee Burpee and Howard M. 

 Earl are visiting seed growers in Eu- 

 rope, as is Lem. W. Bowen, of D. M. 

 Ferry & Cx). 



The forthcoming Yearbook of the De- 

 partment of Agriculture will contain a 

 paper on sugar beet seed breeding by 

 J. E. W. Tracy. 



The heavy rains of the past week have 

 been hard on the onion set fields in the 

 vicinity of Chicago. At the present writ- 

 ing no serious damage is thought to have 

 been done, but a continuation of raiiiy 

 weather will certainly have a bad effect. 



Onion seed for replanting is being 

 called for in the marsh districts of In- 

 diana. It is now so late in the season 

 that replanting will not make up for 

 the loss caused by the flooding and the 

 crop will be shortened considerably 

 whether the bare spots are replanted or 

 not. 



We are now iMoklaff orders for 



LILIUM HARRISII, 



LILIUM LONGinORUM, 



ROMAN HYACINTHS, 



PAPER WHITE NARCISSI, etc. 



Apply lor prieeB, stating number wanted. 



OTCAB BETOX^UTA 



at $8.00 per 100 lbs. 



COLD BTOKAOE VALIiET PIPS 



In cases of 3000, at $10.00 per 1000. 



J. M. THORBURN & CO. 



36 Cortiaadt St. NEW YORK. 



Yellow Seeded Batter Lettuce at J. M. Kimberlin & Q>.\ Santa Clara, CaL 



Visited St. Louis.— P. J. Bies, of the 

 Goodwin-Harries Co., Chicago. 



On the last boat from Bermuda there 

 were 30,241 cases of onions and three 

 cases of onion seed. 



It was expected that field corn seed 

 would be in brisk demand by this time, 

 but, like many other expectations of the 

 seedsman, this one is also switched back 

 from the team track. 



Market gardeners are almost discour- 

 aged by the weather conditions that pre- 

 vail so generally throughout the middle 

 west. Seeds that ought to have been 

 planted weeks ago are still in the pack- 

 age, and ground to receive the seed that 

 has been made ready as many as three 

 or four times is still lying vacant, too 

 wet to do anything with. 



There is hardly a week goes by that 

 some importer does not protest on ths 

 assessment of duty on canary seed. In 

 the past, week the board of appraisers 

 overruled the protests of the Albert 

 iDickinson Co., of T. W. Emerson Co., 

 and of D. R. James & Bro., the importa- 

 tions having been entered at Chicago, 

 Boston and New York respectively. The 

 precedent which governs in this matter 

 is the case of Nordlingsr vs. the United 

 States, published under the title of 

 Treasury Decisions No. 24,976. 



"One of the difiiculties in the way of 

 developing and keeping pure a variety 

 of sweet corn is the ease with which it 

 mixes with other varieties and with 

 field corn. Sweet corn and field or 

 hard corn, if planted at the same time, 

 will mix at least a quarter of a mile 

 away, and thus the sweet corn be much 

 injured in quality. Adams Early, which 

 is not sweet corn, will ruin sweet corn 

 blossoming near it at the same time. 

 But the writer has found little diflicultv 

 in avoiding th3 mixing by always plant- 

 in? sweet corn intended for seed a little 

 earlier than any field corn is planted on 

 his or adjoining farms." 



SAMPLES OF SEED AGAIN. 



The Secretary of the Treasury, who is 

 the chief officer of customs, on May 9 

 sent the following notice to all custom- 

 houses : 



At the instance of the Secretary of Agri- 

 culture, It Is hereby directed that, commenc- 

 ing; July 1, 1905, and continuing for one year, 

 two-ounce samples of all Importations of 100 

 pounds or more of grass, clover and forage- 

 plant seeds be prepared at the earliest prac- 

 ticable date after entry, and forwarded to 

 the Seed Laboratory, Department of Agricul- 

 ture, Washington, D. C, labeled with nam«s 

 and addresses of consignors and consignees, 

 name of seed as given in the invoice, and 

 quantity of the consignment. 



This is extending an order which has 



been in force for two years and to 



which there has been much opposition 



on the part of seedsmen. 



j THE SEASON'S THADE. 



The following reports on the season's 

 business have been received: 



J. M. McCullough's Sons Co., Cin- 

 cinnati, 0. — In reference to our season's 

 business, we would say it was quite late 

 ill starting this year; that ia owing, of 

 course, to the weather, but when this 

 moderated, trade came on us with a very 

 heavy rush and our garden seed trade 

 has been better than it was last year, and 

 the present outlook is for a good count- 

 er trade all during this month. Our 

 grass seed and other business for the 

 months of March and April was very 

 heavy and better than former seasons. 



Johnson & Stokes, Philadelphia, Pa. 

 — The mail order trade in February and 

 early in March was a disappointment as 

 compared with 1904, but since the begin- 

 ning of April has been holding up very 

 well. Counter trade during the past 

 month has been active. Onion sets 

 seemed very scarce early in the season, 

 with growers holding for high prices. 

 This was gradually reduced until at the 

 end of the season there is a small sur- 

 plus, which moves slowly. We know of 

 one grower who had quite a quantity 

 which we tried to buy early in the season 

 at $2.50 to .$2.75 per busbel, who de- 



VI 



