1312 The Vegetable Industry in New York State 



how the seed is cared for 



When the seed arrives from Europe and has been released from 

 the custom house, it is delivered immediately to our warehouses. 

 Then comes the most exacting part of the business, known as 

 " stocking the seed/' and, since so much depends upon the ac- 

 curacy of this work, we allow only one man to stock it. On 

 him rests the entire responsibility. He tags each bag with the 

 English name of the seed contained therein and gives to each 

 bag a distinctive number by which it is identified while the seed 

 is in our hands. If this man makes a mistake in tagging, his 

 error will not be discovered until the damage has been done, and 

 then not by ourselves but by our customers, for it is only in 

 the growing that such errors are brought to light. 



However, we generally carry a two-years' supply and make a 

 trial planting ourselves to determine positively the exact variety. 

 Sometimes, owing to short crops, we can not make such a trial ; 

 hence we protect ourselves with the non-warranty I mentioned. 

 We can tell nothing about our stock without such tests. About 

 thirty varieties of radishes are listed, each distinct as to color, 

 size and shape, yet the seed is all alike. We also list about fifty 

 varieties of cabbage, each distinct as to time of maturity and size 

 and habit of growth, yet the seed is all alike. 



The number is entered on a card with all other information, 

 such as the name of the grower, the year grown and the variety 

 and test. The test, however, can not be entered until 100 seeds 

 have been taken from each bag and sent to the official tester for 

 germination test. After the report of the test is returned the 

 seedsman has a farily complete record of his stock. Is it correct ? 

 He does not know — for he will have to wait one full season to 

 determine that. The proof of the record is only in the grow- 

 ing of the seed. 



We have now the only positive information of our seed stock 

 available. We know just how many seeds out of every hundred 

 will grow under absolutely perfect conditions. A grower may 

 buy that very lot, and it may never show up in the garden. He 

 may register a complaint on the quality or the variety and the 

 poor seedsman will hide behind his non-warranty. He need 

 not say that the seed was no good because it did not grow for 



