1920.] 



Agricultural Prices. 



607 



(d) When sold for some purpose other than for 

 planting or sowing. 



10. A purchaser of any seeds who desires a test to be made 

 for the purposes of civil proceedings must within 10 

 days of delivery take a sample and divide it into two 

 portions; one part to be sent to the Official Seed Testing 

 Station for testing, and the other part to be delivered or 

 tendered to the seller. 



11. The Act also sets forth the penalties for failing to comply 

 with the requirements laid down or for tampering with 

 samples, but the prosecutions can be instituted only by 

 the Minister. 



1*2. The Act provides that separate official seed testing 

 stations may be established for England and Wales, 

 Scotland and Ireland, respectively, but it is permitted 

 that there should be a central Testing Station for the 

 whole of the United Kingdom or for any two parts. 



13. The Act applies to Scotland and Ireland as well as to 

 England and Wales, with the exception that the internal 

 seed trade of Ireland will continue to be regulated under 

 the Weeds and Agricultural Seeds (Ireland) Act, 1909. 



Much has been said of the material benefit which farmers have 

 derived from the rise in prices of all agricultural produce 



A ricultural Prices ^ 1lr ' n ^ an ^ smce ^ ne war period, and it 

 ° ' cannot be denied that the agricultural 



interest has enjoyed a measure of comparative prosperity. It 

 must, however, be remembered that there are two sides to 

 every account, that while in the early days of the War the 

 farmer's lot was very substantially eased, over the whole period 

 the rise in the value of produce has been accompanied by a. 

 marked rise in the cost of materials such as fertilisers, feeding 

 stuffs, seeds and agricultural implements, while at the same 

 time the current rates of wages constantly increased and by 

 the end of 1919 had more than doubled. These facts are 

 lucidly set out in the Eeport on Prices and Supplies just issued 

 by the Ministry.* 



It is pointed out that a comparison of the movement in the 

 money values of these different types of receipts and expendi- 



* Agricultural Statistics, 1919, Vol. LIV., Part III. Prices and Supplies of 

 Corn, Live Stock and other Agricultural Produce in England and Wales, and 

 Summaries of Colonial and Foreign Agricultural Statistics. Cmd. 902, 1920. 6d. 

 net. Obtainable from H.M. Stationery Office, Kingsway, London, W.C.2. 



