' / 



JDNE 24, 1909. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review; 



39 



C. E. KendeL 



(Secretary American Seed Trade AsBociation.) 



to except the farmer from the operations 

 of the same law that is sought to be en- 

 forced as against the seedsman. 



Chas. N. Page 's report commented on 

 the large amount of crude and ill-con- 

 sidered legislation that has been at- 

 tempted, and gave an exhaustive review 

 of the present condition of seed legisla- 

 tion in the various states. In many of 

 the states, legislation so drastic had been 

 attempted that its effect would have been 

 not only to knock the seedsmen out of 

 business, but to absolutely render un- 

 salable all the seeds produced in the 

 states affected. In conclusion, he said 

 that the American Seed Trade Associa- 

 tion does not object to any reasonable, 

 sane national or state legislation affect- 

 ing seeds. 



The committee recommended that a 

 committee of three be appointed to con- 

 fer with a similar committee from the 

 National Association of State Seed 

 Analysts, to agree, if possible, on the 

 draft of a uniform state seed law to 

 take the place of the many objectionable 

 laws which now exist. This recommenda- 

 tion was concurred in, and also the 

 recommendation by President Woodruff 

 that in future statutory enactments 

 separate provisions be asked governing 

 the sale of vegetable and flower seeds 

 from those covering the sale of grass, 

 clover and field seeds. 



Attitude of Official Seed Analysts. 

 In the absence of the author at Tues- 

 day's session, F. C. Woodruff read a 

 paper prepared by Dr. H. Jenkins, pres- 

 ident of the National Organization of 

 Seed Analysts, setting forth the purpose 

 and scope of his organization, to improve 

 and unify present methods of seed test- 

 ing and to work for more uniform and 



satisfactory laws regulating the sale of 

 agricultural seeds. This work is being 

 forced upon the attention of the agricul- 

 tural stations of the country by the logic 

 of events, and from the side of the re- 

 tail purchaser, and follows as a conse- 

 quence of other kinds of control work 

 which state institutions are doing. De- 

 termination as to species as labeled, 

 whether relatively light or heavy, what 

 percentage of foreign matter contained, 

 and the percentage of pure seed capable 

 of germinating are obviously of the 

 greatest value to the buyer. The re- 

 sults to be accomplished are similar in 

 nature to what has been done in the past 

 twenty-five years by the Association of 

 Official Agricultural Chemists in securing 

 accuracy and uniformity in fertilizers, 

 etc. The association will welcome any 

 facts or suggestions from the American 

 Seed Trade Association membership and 

 hopes to maintain cordial relations with 

 them; in no sense is the organization 

 hostile to the producers of or dealers In 

 seeds; it aims to foster fair trade and 

 legitimate competition. 



Uses and Abuses of Legislation. 



In the absence of the author. Secre- 

 tary Kendel read the paper by Prof. L. 

 H. Pammel, "Seed Legislation; its Uses 

 and Abuses," and on motion of C. F. 

 Wood a special vote of thanks to Messrs. 

 Jenkins and Pammel was adopted, and 

 2,000 copies of Prof. Pammel's paper 

 were ordered printed for distribution. 



Prof. Pammel is of the Iowa State 

 College of Agriculture and said in sub- 

 stance: "Cheap seeds mean poor seeds. 

 The passage of laws in Europe, while 

 improving quality there, has thrown a 

 poor quality of seeds on the market here. 

 Seed testing work originated by Dr. 



Nobbe, at Tharandt, Germany, in 1867, 

 revealed startling conditions in the Ger- 

 man trade in seeds. Later other con- 

 trol stations were started in other parts 

 of Europe. Laws were enacted correct- 

 ing abuses. Pioneer work was done in 

 this country by Dr. Jenkins, of Connecti- 

 cut, thirty years ago; subsequently by 

 McCarthy of North Carolina, Dr. Beal of 

 Michigan, Butz of Pennsylvania, Deval, 

 Selby and Hicks of Ohio, Hillinan of 

 Nevada, Roberts and Freeman of Kan- 

 sas, Harvey of Maine, Garman of Ken- 

 tucky, Stewart, Eolf, Pammel and King 

 of Iowa, Jones of Vermont, Hicks, Piet- 

 ers, Brown, Key and Hillman of the 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture, Clark, 

 Paton, Saunders of Canada. This work 

 has revealed the necessity of laws to x^- 

 strict the sale of seeds containing weed 

 impurities and to demand reasonable 

 standards of vitality. The average de- 

 mand is for seeds supplied by seedsmen, 

 who must therefore furnish a good sup- 

 ply, reasonably free from noxious weeds 

 and showing reasonably good germina- 

 tion. The farmer is anxious to put all 

 the blame on the seed merchant, and the 

 seed merchant claims he cannot be re- 

 sponsible for seed after it has left his 

 hands. 



"The farmer in many cases is respon- 

 sible for weediness of seeds. Tests made 

 by the writer and Miss Charlotte Mc- 

 King in the spring of 1908 and 1909 on 

 vitality of grass and clover seeds showed 

 different results in the field than in in- 

 cubator and greenhouse tests. The re- 

 sults were more striking during the un- 

 favorable germinating season of 1909. 

 (A table was presented showing these 

 results of tests.) 



"The writer believes it is not wise to 

 fix a standard of purity and vitality by 

 law, as in Iowa, but that it is better to 

 allow a commission to fix these -e^'ery 

 year, especially as to vitality. Seed will 

 vary as to germinating power, -depend- 

 ing on many factors. Prof. Holden has 

 shown how poor the vitality of corn was 

 in Iowa under different conditions tliere. 

 The same is true of other seeds. For a 

 federal commission, let the members be 

 the Secretary of Agriculture, a seed ex- 

 pert and a seedsman; in case of states 

 the commission to consist of the state's 

 botanist, the director of the state's ex- 

 periment station and a seedsman. 



"States should have uniform laws, so 

 that 'seedsmen can adjust themselves to 

 them. No laws should be passed that 

 cannot be honestly and fairly well en- 

 forced. The buyer and seller must be 

 equally considered. Laws should specify 

 what noxious weeds are prohibited, or 

 should require same to be specified on the 

 label if present. Every law should con- 

 tain sections on the adulteration of 

 seeds. Substitution of Canadian blue 

 grass for Kentucky blue grass, or fescue 

 for awnless brome grass should not be 

 tolerated, nor should seeds be misbrand- 

 ed. The farmer should be held equally 

 responsible with the seedsman, and sub- 

 ject to the same laws, without favoritism 

 to him. Clover and grass fields should 

 be inspected before harvesting, by an ex- 

 pert, and those foul with weeds should 

 not be harvested. Various experiment 

 stations should publish more bulletins 

 about seeds. The writer doubts the wis- 

 dom of publishing the names of seed 

 merchants who have sold seeds found to 

 be below the standard requirements. Co- 

 operation is wanted between all interests. 

 Imported seeds from Europe should be 

 rigidly inspected and importations 

 stopped of seeds containing Canadian 

 blue grass, Canada thistle and dodder in 



