JLXE 21, 1909. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



39 



C. E. Kendel. 



' Secretary American Seed Trade Association.) 



to o.xcopt fill' t'lirnit'i- I'ruiii ilu- ii|ici;il ions 

 of tho same law that is soiiylit to Ik- on- 

 lorccd as ajfainst IIk^ st'cilsinaii. 



<,'lias. X. J'ajic's I'oport conmiriiti^il on 

 'li(! largo aniuiiiit of criulf ami ill coii- 



-idorecl legislation that has I a at- 



itMii|)tctl, and gave an ('.\liyiisti\r itn lew 

 of the present condition of sird Icgisla- 

 lion in the various stales. In many of 

 the states, legislation so drastii- had hccn 

 attempted that its effect would have been 

 not ordy to knock the seedsnim out of 

 business, but to absolutidy n-iuler un- 

 salable all the seeds jirodured in the 

 states affected. In conclusion, he said 

 that the American Seed 'I'radc .\ssocia- 

 tion does not object to any reasonable, 

 sane national or state legislation affect- 

 ing seeds. ♦ 



The canimiffce reconinicndtd that a 

 •oinmittee of three Ije aiipoiniod to con- 

 fer with a similar coniniittcc fnun the 

 Xafional Association of State Seed 

 \ualysls, fo agree, if possible, on the 



draft of a uniform state ^ I law to 



lake the place of flie many olijed ionable 

 laws which now exist. This reeointnenda- 

 'ion was concurred in. and .also fh(| 

 recommendation by I'resi.hnt Woodruff 

 ih.af in future 'statutory enactments 

 sepurate provisions be ask' d e,i\erning 

 the sale of vegetable and ll.'wer seeds 

 I roni those eo\ering the ~:di "t grass. 

 lo\i'r and field seeds. 



Attitude of Official Seed Analysts. 



Ill the abs.-iice of the iiiiilM'r at Tiles- 

 lay's session. I-'. <■. \V 'ii'li I't"' ;• 



papi'i- prep.'ireil bv Dr. II. .bniUins. jues- 

 ideiit ,,t' the Xaiioiial ( h -;i n i/al ion of 

 ■^eed .\nalysts. setting feiil. ilic ;Miii>ose 

 and si-o])e (d' his organi/.at inn. lo i,'nj|iro\e 

 and unify pn'seiit nietliod- of seed fest- 

 Jiiii and to Work lor nioic iiiiif'nin and 



satisfactory laws regulating tlii' sale of 

 agricultural seeds. This work is being 

 fcu-ced uiKin the attention of the agricul- 

 tural s:tations of the country by the logic 

 of events, ami from tiie side of the re- 

 tail ])urciiaser, and follows as a conse- 

 (|iu^nce of other kinds of control work 

 which state institutions are iloing. De- 

 termination as to species as labeled, 

 whether relativcdy liglit or heavy, what 

 jiercentage of foreign matter contained, 

 and the per<-entage 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 fo what has been done in the past 

 twenty-five years l)y the Association of 

 Oflicial Agricultur.al CiieiiMsts in securing 

 accuracy and unifornufy in fertilizers, 

 etc. The association \\\\l w(dcome any 

 facts or suggestions fnmi the Atnerican 

 Seed Trade Asso(datioii membership an<l 

 hopes to maintain <-ordial relations with 

 them; in no sense is the organization 

 hostile to the produi'ers of or dealers in 

 seeds; it aims fo foster fair trade and 

 legitimate competition. 



Uses and Abuses of Legislation. 



In the absence ot' thi^ .auflior. Secre- 

 tary Kendel reail the ])aper by Prof. I;. 

 IL T'ammel. "Seed Legislation; its I'ses 

 .and .\buses," ■,\]\,\ iiji ntotion ot' ( '. 1". 



^Voo.l a s| i;il Vote of thanks to ^Messrs. 



deiikins .-iiid I'nniniid was ;iilopted, ami 

 ■J.iinii copies iff jjjni. I'aminers |>aper 

 were ordereil iHinted fur distribution. 



I'rof. I';niimel is of the Iowa State 

 <'olleoe (if Aeriiultiire ,-ind said in sul)- 

 stjince; '"('lic'ip seecis mean poor seeds. 

 I he pass;ig( of laws in Kuro[te. while 

 improving (|uality there, has thrown a 

 I I-oor (|imlify of seeds on ihe marki4 here. 

 Seed testing work originated bv Dr. 



Xobbe, at Tharandt, Cermany, in 18(57, 

 revealed startling conditions in tho (Jer- 

 man trade in seeds. Later other con- 

 trol stations were started in other parts 

 of I'airope. liaws were enaided correct- 

 ing abuses. IMoneor work was don(.' in 

 this country by Dr. Jenkins, of Coniu'cti- 

 cut, thirty years ago; subsequently by 

 McCarthy of North Carol iim. Dr. Heal of 

 Michigan, Butz of I'ennsylvania, Deval, 

 Selby and Ili(d\S of Ohio, Ilillman of 

 Nevada, Ivoberts and I'-rcenmn of Kan- 

 sas, Harvey of Maine, Carman of Ken- 

 tucky, Stewart, liolf, rammel and King 

 of Iowa, Jones of Vermont, Ilicks, I'iet- 

 ers. Brown, Key and Ilillman of tho 

 11. S. Dej)artment of Agricultun". Clark, 

 I'aton, Saunders of Canada. This work 

 has revealed the necessity of laws to re- 

 strict the sale of seeds containing weed 

 impurities and to demand reasonable 

 standards of vitality. The average dc 

 mand is for seeds supplied by seedsmen. 

 who must therefore furnish a good sup- 

 ply, reasonably free from noxi(nis weeds 

 and showing reasonably good germina- 

 tion. The farmer is anxious to put all 

 the blame on the seed merchant, and tho 

 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 weedincss of seeds. Tests mad(> 

 by the writer and Miss Charlotte Mc- 

 King in the spring of 190S and llHiO on 

 vitality of grass and clover seeds showed 

 different results in the field thati in in- 

 cubator and greenhouse tests. Tlie re 

 suits were more striking during the un- 

 favorable germinating season of 1'.hi;i. 

 (A fable was ]iresentod sliowing these 

 results of tests.) 



"The writer believes it is not wise to 

 fix a standard of purity and vitality In- 

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

 allow a commission to fix these eviiy 

 year, especially as to vitality. Seed will 

 vary as fo germinating ])o\ver. depend- 

 ing on many factors. Pnd'. IfoMen has 

 shown how poor the vitality of corn w.is 

 in Iowa under difVm'ont ciMulitions fiiere. 

 The samc^ is true of other seeds. I'or a 

 federal commission. \ot tlie mtMiibers be 

 the Secretary of Agriculture, a sc>e(l (>\- 

 j^ort and a seedsman; in case of states 

 the commission to consist of the state's 

 botanist, the director of tho state's ex- 

 periment station and a seedsman. 



"States should have uniform laws, so 

 'hat 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 

 ('(fually ccinsicU'reil. Laws siiould specify 

 wli.'it noxi(Uis weeds are itiidiibited, or 

 should re(|uire same to be sjit^cifiecl cm the 

 label if present. l^eiy law shoidd con- 

 tain sections on the adulteration' of 

 seeds. Substitution of Canadian blue 

 orass for Kentucky blue grass, or fescue 

 for awnless lirome grass shouM not be 

 tideraled, nor should seeds be misV)rand- 

 ed. The farmer should be held er|iially 

 r(S|iousibl(> with the seedsman, and sub- 

 ject io the same laws, without f.avoritism 

 til hiui. < 'lo\(M- and grass fields should 

 be iiis| ted bef'ore iiar\ est ine'. by an ex- 

 perl, and tliosi' f'oul with wei'ds shotdil 

 not be harvested. Various (>xperiment 

 si,-itioi;s should pid)lish more bulh^ins 

 about seeds. Tho writer doubts the wis- 

 dom of publisliinLT th(^ names oi' seed 

 merdianf- wlio hav'-" so)(l seeds found t<i 

 lie below the standard rei|uirements. Co- 

 o|ii'raiion is \\;i'itt>il Ijotween all interests. 

 lm|iorled see(ls from l-"uropi> should bo 

 ri;^idly inspected and imjiorlations 

 stojiped oi" Seeds contaiiiiiiL,'' < '.anadian 

 bine I'rass, Canrida thistle ;uid dodiler in 



