604 



The Seeds Act, 1920. 



[Oct., 



The Seeds Act, 1920, received Royal Assent on the 16th 

 August, but does not come into operation untl the 1st August, 

 The Seeds Act ^he object of delaying the date on 



1920 ' which the Act conies into force is to allow 

 the Seed Trade ample time to study the 

 regulations which will in future govern the sale of seeds in this 

 country. 



The passing of this Act makes permanent one of the farthest- 

 reaching minor reforms in the interests of good agriculture — that 

 effected by the Testing of Seeds Order, a measure passed under 

 the Defence of the Realm Regulations. The Testing of Seeds 

 Order. 1917, which came into operation on the 1st January, 1918, 

 brought the United Kingdom into line with the Continent, 

 America and the Colonies, where for a number of years various 

 regulations have been in force for the purpose of preventing the 

 sale of seeds of low vitality and seeds containing a dangerous 

 proportion of injurious weeds. In 1816 regulations were in force 

 in Switzerland which enabled Government Inspectors to enter 

 any seed shop or warehouse for the purpose of examining the 

 seeds offered for sale. Cases of fraud were suitably dealt with. 

 In 1871, E. Muller Hoist initiated a system of control of seeds 

 in Denmark and founded his seed testing office.* Then followed 

 the setting up of various methods of seed control in Holland, 

 Hungary. Germany, the United States of America and a number 

 of the British colonies. The first official Seed Testing Station 

 in the United Kingdom was established in Ireland in 1 900 ; and 

 by the passing of the Weeds and Agricultural Seeds Act, which 

 applied to Ireland only, at a later date (1909) the Irish Depart- 

 ment was given a certain measure of control over the sale of 

 seeds. Early in 1914 the Board of Agriculture for Scotland 

 established a seed testing station, but no legislative control of 

 seeds was attempted. 



The main object of the Testing of Seeds Order was to protect 

 the farmer against the danger of unknowingly purchasing and 

 sowing seeds of low vitality and contaminated with noxious weed 

 seeds. No attempt was made to force the farmer to use seed of 

 a better quality than that which he was ready to buy ; the aim 

 was to compel the seller to disclose certain essential facts so that 

 the purchaser could judge the value of the seed with a fair degree 

 of accuracy. 



The original Order was replaced on the 1st July, 1918, by the 

 Testing of Seeds Order. 1918. t which wi dened the sc ope o f the 



* See this Journal, July, 1920, p. 367. 

 t See this Journal. July, 1918, p. 477. 



