J 728 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



May 3, 1906. 



collector of customs at ttavannah, tho 

 United States General Appraisers on 

 April 23 reversed their previous rulings 

 and in the future the seed of vetch will 

 be admitted free of duty. 



The board reached the decision that 

 the term * * grass seeds ' in paragraph 

 656, tariff act of 1897, is not used in its 

 scientific botanical sense and restricted 

 to plants of the order gramineae, or true 

 grasses, but includes other herbage which 

 serves for pasture or forage of cattle 

 and which has come to be popularly or 

 commercially known as grass. 



Under this interpretation it follows 

 that the seed of the vetch, one of the 

 so-called * ' artificial grasses, ' ' which is 

 a leguminous plant used extensively for 

 pasture and forage purposes and classed 

 ■with grasses and forage plants by the 

 «eed trade, is free of duty as "grass 

 seed, ' ' under said paragraph 656, and is 

 not dutiable as a seed not specially 

 provided for, under paragraph 254, 



The full text of the board's opinion 

 was as follows: 



The commodity subject of this protest is two 

 varieties of vetch seed^-Vlcia villosu, otherwise 

 known as the sand or winter vetch, and Vicla 

 sativa, or common vetch. These were classified 

 as seeds not specially provided for, under para- 

 graph 254 of the tariff act of 1897, and as- 

 sessed with duty at thirty per cent ad valorem. 

 They are claimed to be free under paragraph 

 <J56 of the act, which exempts, among other 

 things, "all flower and grass setds" not spe- 

 cially provided for. 



Tne single question to be determined Is 

 whether the seed of the vetch is grass seed 

 within the meaning of paragraph 636. It is 

 well understood that the botanical order gram- 

 ineae, which comprises the true grasses, would 

 not Include this plant. It embraces such plants 

 as timothy, red top, Johnson grass, corn, oats, 

 barley, sugar cane, bamboo, etc., from which it 

 will plainly appear that what are sometimes 

 termed 'artificial grasses," such as clover, al- 

 falfa, sainfoin, spurry, and vetches, are not 

 within the botanical classification of grasses. 

 We thinic, however, that the law was framed 

 ■with a view of placing on the free list such 

 pltmts as are popularly known and commercially 

 treated as grasses rather than those which are 

 scientifically so known. It is very evident, as 

 ■will hereafter appear, that the board has not 

 been bound by the scientific botanical classifl- 

 ■cation. The popular definition of the word 

 "grass" would Include such plants as vetches. 

 The following is taken from the Standard Dlc- 

 . tionary: 



"Grasfl — In common usage, the green plants 

 on which cattle and other l)easts feed; any her- 

 bage that serves for pasture. This sense in- 

 cludes what are sometimes called the artificial 

 grasses, food-plants for horses and cattle which 

 «re not real grasses, as clover in the United 

 States and sainfoin in Europe, as well as some 

 other plants, principally of the legume or bean 

 family." 



It would appear from the evidence in this 

 «ase. and we think it is not disputed, that the 

 vetch is a leguminous plant, allied to the clover 

 «nd alfalfa, and of the same family as the pea 

 and l>ean. The vetch is used for pasture and 

 forage and for making bay. These, we think, 

 are Its only uses and are quite extensive In 

 Georgia and some of the other southern states, 

 and also In the northwestern part of the United 

 States. It is especially adapted for growth 

 upon lean or barren asd light soils, and like 

 the clover has the power of collecting nitrogen 

 from the air and supplying it to the soil, thus 

 strengthening the soil and making it more pro- 

 ductive for all kinds of crops. The seed of 

 this plant Is not raised for commercial pur- 

 poses In the United States. The evidence shows 

 that many of the large dealers Include vetch 

 under the head of grasses in their catalogues, 

 and of those dealers who do not so classify 

 them, nearly all place them in the same classifi- 

 cation with forage and pasture plants. 



That the board has not so construed the pro- 

 visions for grass seed in the tariff acts as to 

 restrict them to seeds of plants botanically 

 known as grasses is clear from Its decisions. 

 Thus sainfoin, which is in no way related to 

 the true grasses, was held to be a grass in board 

 decision In re Dlngelstedt, G. A. 2566 (T. D. 

 14937). Spurry, which is a pink and not re- 

 lated to the true grasses, was held to be grass 

 in the case of Henry Nungesser, G. A. 2597 

 (T. D. 15020). Clover, which, like the vetch, 

 is a legume, was held to be grass in G. A. 

 2442 (T, D. 14720); also an appeal by Henry 

 Nungesser. None of these plants is botanically 

 grass, but being well-known forage plants, popu- 

 larl.v and commercially classed as grasses, their 

 seeds were very properly held to be grass seeds 

 b.y the board. For the same reason we think 

 that vetch seed should be classified as gras« 

 seed within the meaning of the statute. 



We are not unmindful that the board has 

 hitherto denied free entry to vetch seed, hold- 

 ing it to be dutiable as a seed not specially 

 provided for under said paragraph 254 (In re. 

 ■J^ungesser, G. A. 4602— T. D. 21762), but we are 



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Mention The Review when yea write. 



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satisfied that that finding was based upon a 

 record which was neither full nor correct, and 

 while it warranted the finding at that time and 

 upon that record we think it should be over- 

 ruled. 



That the term "grass seeds" is used in para- 

 graph 656 In its popular or commercial sense 

 rather than in its scientific sense may be said to 

 be settled by the decision of the circuit court 

 of appeals in Nordlinger v. United States (127 

 Fed. Rep., 683; T. D. 24976), where canary 

 seed, which is botanically a grass seed, but not 

 so Itnown either popularly or commercially, was 

 held not to be grass seed within the meaning 

 of said provision. 



We find that vetch seed is grass seed, as the 

 term is used in paragraph 656. and sustain the 

 protest, reversing the collector's decision. 



EUROPEAN SEED NOTES. 



The seed trade is now very active and 

 good business is being done by retailers. 

 The wholesale firms are slacking off 

 somewhat. 



Clovers and grasses show very little 

 increase in quotations owing to available 

 quantities and prices throughout are 

 practically unchanged. Owing probably 

 to some heavy Dutch offers Scarlet 

 Runner beans are offered very cheaply 

 for really fine colored samples, cheaper 

 than for some time past, as low as 9 shil- 

 lings per bushel in some instances being 

 accepted. B. J. 



MANAGER 



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 care Floriats* Review, Chicago. 



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Your paper is good company. — United 

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We are well pleased with results from 

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Danville, III. — H. D. Caldwell has a 

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Washington, D. C, April 30. — Con- 

 gress "ran to seed" today, the major 

 portion of the legislative session being 

 given over to the consideration of the 

 agricultural appropriation bill and the 

 free distribution of seeds, which the bill 

 does not provide for, but which many 

 members desire to be restored to the bill. 

 Many of the speeches were facetious, 

 and others accused congress of listening 

 to the seed dealers rather than to the 

 people. 



