August 30, 1919] 



SCIENCE 



197 



equitably drawn and should be so worded as 

 to allow enforcement in the face of wilful 

 violation. 



It is, I tbink, self-evident that the work of 

 crop inspection, standardization, certification 

 and seed listing should be free — open to all so 

 far as done — for it is for the state, for all 

 citizens, consumers as well as growers. Fur- 

 ther, those who do the certifying and listing 

 should not be dependent for their position on 

 the number of bushels standardized, certified 

 and listed. This is perhaps the chief argu- 

 ment against the fee system. !N"o citizen 

 should be able to charge or think that the 

 fee pays for the work. 



It may be asked why the necessity ? Simply 

 because: (1) The states and nation are 

 creating many varieties, perhaps valuable ones 

 at great expense, only to be lost inside a few 

 seasons of general cropping and marketing 

 through admixtures, disease contamination 

 and deterioration. If not lost their qualities 

 are qiiite camouflaged by the products ob- 

 tained. (2) Seed inspection laws which only 

 inspect in the bag or bin in the place of seed 

 sales after the seed is sold off from the farm 

 have failed and are failing to insure seed and 

 crop improvement. 



I do not mean by this that such inspection 

 laws have not prevented the sale of much 

 worthless seed. For under the present seed 

 laws it has been possible to prevent the sale of 

 large quantities of perfectly non-viable seed 

 and it has been possible to prevent the sale of 

 seeds containing quantities of noxious weed 

 seeds. It is not in this sense that I claim 

 they have not succeeded, but rather that in- 

 spection after the crop is sold can not im- 

 prove the crop. Indeed, it may even dete- 

 riorate until there is really nothing worthy 

 of the inspections and analysis wasted upon 

 it. The seed merchant can only sell that 

 which he buys and that which he buys can not 

 be better than that the farmers grow. It is 

 thus evident, if we are to improve that which 

 is grown, the inspection must be commenced 

 earlier and with the cropping processes. One 

 can not improve that which is in the bin by 

 inspecting it, he can only refuse to allow it 



to be sold until graded or cleaned, etc. As, 

 however, the admixtures are usually such that 

 cleaning machinery can not remove them, no 

 amount of insfjection will improve the breed 

 and sanitary qualities for seed at this point. 

 If the inspection starts on the farm and goes 

 into operation with a view of aiding the 

 grower to produce a better crop to be sold for 

 seed for sowing purposes, or even for com- 

 mercial purposes, then the money involved in 

 the inspecting and in educating the public 

 acts directly and readily leads to an improved 

 pure-bred seed plot and within two to three 

 crop generations to an entire farm crop of 

 improved or pedigreed seed in sufficient quan- 

 tity to fill wholesale seed house or manu- 

 facturing wareroom. A sufficient niunber of 

 such properly inspected crops will provide for 

 the township and county needs, and the process 

 soon becomes infectious on adjacent farms. 

 Thus standardization of varieties and proper 

 recording of the growers may be established 

 and through authorized lists the grower of 

 improved or pedigreed seed may be brought 

 into authentic touch with those who wish to 

 use the seed on the land. Seed inspection 

 thus becomes at once a constructive process 

 for improvement of seed quality and a means 

 whereby records may be established and kept 

 so that the breed may not be lost through mis- 

 representation or ignorance. 



Some may say that this can be done through 

 cooperative breeders associations and by con- 

 stantly renewed educational campaigns. That 

 this is not possible, never has been done and 

 can not be done because there is no tie to 

 prevent such organizations running wild or 

 dying when the originators die is self-evident 

 and a fact of history. Such organizations 

 usually die a natural death through the action 

 of greedy members and false advertising pro- 

 paganda. Who is there to check up the co- 

 operative breeders associations? Seed im- 

 PTOvement must last through the life of many 

 men and for this there must be plans based on 

 established law. 



The one thing that can be said about our 

 present haphazard method of breeding, seed 

 reconunendations and educational propaganda 



