62 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



January 27, 1910. 



PEDIGREE SEEDS 



Vegetable— Flower 



Have You Tried Our Specialties ? 



-Write now for ova N«w^ Illustrated Catalogrue.- 



Wholesale 

 Seed Mercliants 



WATKINS & SIMPSON, Limited 



12 Tavistock St., Co vent Garden, London, England 



MeutioD The Review wtaen you write. 



of it, and the court took the case out of 

 the hands of the jury and directed that 

 judgment be found for the seed trade. 

 The case is one which will hereafter be 

 cited as a precedent. 



A. A. Geil, the plaintiff, claimed to 

 have purchased five and one-half bushels 

 of clover seed from" the Iowa Seed Co. as 

 medium or common red clover; that he 

 sowed same and did not notice any dif- 

 ference the first year, but the second 

 season that it proved to be mammoth 

 red clover. He abandoned his crop. 

 Defendant denied that it was mammoth, 

 claiming that the unusually large growth 

 was caused by rich soil and wet weather, 

 but did not press this point, preferring 

 to have the case decided on the dis- 

 claimer. It was shown that the defend- 

 ant publishes in several places in its 

 catalogue a so-called disclaimer refusing 

 to warrant seeds; that this disclaimer is 

 also printed on large placards posted in 

 various prominent places in its building; 

 that the disclaimer also was printed on 

 the receipt given to the plaintiff for the 

 money paid for this seed; that this is a 

 general custom with all seed dealers in 

 the United States and Europe, which was 

 confirmed by an exhibit, not only of de- 

 fendant's own catalogue, but the cata- 

 logues of more than 100 American seed 

 dealers and about forty foreign seed 

 dealers, all of which contained the dis- 

 claimer. 



After four days' trial Judge McHenry 

 ruled that there was no warranty, either 

 express or implied, and that it was a 

 universal custom of the seed trade, and 

 had been for many years past, to sell 

 seeds without warranty, and that this 

 custom and usage had become established 

 as a law of which the purchaser of seeds 

 is bound to take notice. 



The court, in his decision on defend- 

 ant's motion to dismiss the case, dis- 

 cussed the non-warranty as follows: 



The facts disclosed by this record are about 

 these. The plaintiff, A. A. Gell, acting for hlm- 

 8elf, and two other gentlemen of the same 

 name, notified the clerk of the defendant, Mr. 

 Park, that they wanted some good red clover 

 seed, and was told by Mr. Park that they did 

 not have it at that time but they would have 

 it later. Later, by some means or other, the 

 plaintiff had knowledge that the time had 

 come for him to come in and get the seed, and 

 went to the warehouse of the Iowa Seed Co. 

 And the testimony is entirely silent as to any 

 conversation there between A. A. Geil and Mr. 

 Park, but the fact is Mr. Park produced seed 

 in bags and gave it to Geil as and for what 

 Gell had wanted and asked for, common red 

 clover seed. The testimony does not disclose a 

 single WM-d in the conversation between A. A. 

 Geil and Pirk at the meeting, but simply the 

 fact Park delivered the seed to Gell and Gell 

 put it in his wagon and drove home with it. 

 This seed turned out not to be common red 

 clover seed, but the seed known as mammoth 

 red clover, which the plaintiff contends Is less 



TO THK TBADX— c- ■< 



HENRY METTE, Qoedliobors, fiennaiiy 



^^^■^^^^^^" (ESTABUSHKD 1» 1787) 



Grower And Exporter on the very largest scale of all 



CHOICE VEGETABLE, FLOWER and FARM SEEDS 



■peolaltles t Beans, Beets, Gabbaees, Ourots, Kobl-Rabl, Leeks, Lettuces, Onions, 

 Pmw, RwUsbes, Spinacb, Tumlps, Swedes, Asters, Balsams, Begonias, Oamations, 

 Cinerarias, Gloxinias, Larkspurs, Nasturtiiuns, Pansl«s, Petunias, Phlox, Primulas. 

 Scabious, Stocks, Verbenas, Zinnias, etc. Catalogue free on application. 



HKNRT MKTTK'B TBIUBCPH OV THX GIANT PAMBXKS (mixed), the most 

 perfect and most beautiful in the world, IS.00 per oz.; $1.60 per H-oz.; 76c per 1-16 oz. Postage 

 paid. Cash with order. 



All seeds offered are grown under my personal supervision on my own cronnds ot 

 mora than 8000 steras, and are warranted true to name, of strongest growth, finest 

 stocks and best quality, i also crow larsalT saads on contraot. 



Mention The Review when you write. 



(Z 



UliflOWCr Seed Wlboltfa EarUeat Snowball, No. 84, at $9.00 per 



lb.; 6 Iba. at $8.00 per lb. 

 Wiboltt*a Extra Early Dwarf Erfurt, at $8.00 



per lb.; 5 lbs. at $7.00 per lb. 

 Wiboltt'a Daniah Giant, ** Dry Weather," at 



$9.00 per Ib.^ 6 lbs. at $8.00 per lb. 



Larger iota prices separately. We ask new oastomen 

 to send cash with order. 



Seed Grower and 





R\^ 7 I O /^ I nnP Seed Grower an 

 • W 1 EjWLw 1 1 9 Seed Merchant. 

 NAKSKOV, DENMARK 



Mention The Review when you write. 



HASSLACH 



SEED GROWER 



Villa Mimosa, St. Remy de Provence, France 



Accepts Contract Orders for 1910 in Aster, 

 Balsam, Cyclamen, Phlox, Primula 

 ■inensis, Portulaca, Verbena*, Zinnia, 

 Pepper, Tomato and every other sort ot seeds. 



Mention The Review when you write. 



valuable. In fact, contends that It Is of no 

 value as a crop on this soil and in this latitude. 



The petition in this case does not specify 

 whether the claim is founded upon an express 

 warranty or an implied warranty. Simply al- 

 leges he bought the seed for common red clover 

 seed and was delivered the mammoth red clover 

 seed and alleges the damage which followed. 



It also appears, and without contradiction in 

 the record, that the universal custom among 

 dealers In «eeds is, and for many years past has 

 been, not to warrant seeds to be true to name 

 or the quality of the seeds. It also appears, 

 and without any contradiction in the record, 

 that all the seed bouses in America practically, 

 with one exception of a man who sells nothing 

 but flower seed, publish this custom of the seed 

 dealers in all of their circulars and pamphlets 

 and In practically all of their correspondence and 

 in their billheads and receipts. In this case, it 

 appears it has been constantly kept In all of the 

 catalogues of the Iowa Seed Co., besides on 

 placards about their store and warehouse, and 

 embodied in their billheads which they use for 

 the purpose of making the receipts, and was 

 in fact printed upon the receipt given in this 



F. J. Grootendorst 

 ft Sons 



B08K00P, HOLUND 



Azaleas, Rhododendrons, Qenatis, 

 Roses, pot-grown plants for fordns. 

 Bttxiis, Conifers, Japanese Maples, 



Shrubs, Palms, Bulbs, Be 

 A postal brlQKB cor catalogae. 



LET US QUOTE PRICES 

 ON YOUR LIST OF WANTS 



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case to A. A. &ell for the money paid for this 

 seed. In this particular case it reads as fol- 

 lows: "We exercise great care to have all seed 

 sold by us pure and reliable, but it is mutually 

 agreed between ourselves and the purchaser of 

 this bill that no warranty is either given or 

 required." 



I need not undertake to discuss the proof 

 here as to the damage sustained. It will be 

 sufficient for me to say here now that If this 

 case were to go to the Jury there would be a 

 fair question for the Jury as to whether . there 

 was damage or not and what the amonnt of 



