1921.] 



Seed Control, 1920-21. 



821 



siderable stocks of packets containing seed of low germination. 

 Under the Order it was not obligatory on the part of a vendor 

 of packeted seeds to declare any particulars where the seed was 

 sold at or above the minimum standard of germination. Con- 

 sequently, although the seed may have been of high germination, 

 when delivered by the wholesaler, the explanation of the exist- 

 ence of large quantities of low-grade packeted seed is probably 

 due to unsold packets being held over by retailers from one year 

 and offered for sale the next. It frequently happens that stocks 

 of this nature are in the hands of local tradesmen with no 

 particular knowledge of seeds, whose experience is limited to the 

 comparatively small amount of trade done seasonally. Under 

 the Seeds Regulations, 1921, which have been made by the 

 Ministry in accordance w T ith the Seeds Act, 1920, a seller of 

 packeted seeds must, in future, either furnish the purchaser 

 with the full particulars required in he case of the sale of the 

 particular kind of seed in bulk, or he may avail himself of the 

 special provisions made for the sale of seeds in packets, in which 

 ease he must state the season in which the seeds were packeted, 

 as well as other particulars relating to purity, germination, etc. 



The New Regulations. — The Testing of Seed= Order, 1918. 

 was revoked on 1st August, 1921, the date on which the 

 Seeds Act, 1920, and the Seeds Regulations, 1921, came into 

 operation. The Order was the first Regulation of anv kind in 

 Great Britain which was framed to protect the farmer from know- 

 ingly sowing seeds of low germination or contaminated with 

 noxious weed seeds. It is, of course, an unquestioned fact that 

 the farmer must spend, in producing a crop, far more in kbour 

 and materials than the initial cost of- the seed he sows, and any 

 measure which tends to improve the quality of seeds offered for 

 sale must therefore be of lasting benefit to agriculture. In 

 administering the Order, the Ministry was more concerned to 

 convince f armers and seedsmen of the value of a system 

 of seed testing than to become & Public Prosecutor in 

 cases of omission to comply with its reouireraents. The 

 experience gained and the lessons learnt during the operation 

 of the Order have proved invaluable in framing the Seeds 

 Regulations. 1921. and while the Ministry will con f irme to regard 

 th Q Reeds -of. 1 09 0. as primarily an educational measure for the 

 improvement of British agriculture, it will -not hesitate to put 

 the penal provisions into operation, in the interests both of the 

 farmer and of the seed mprch^nt himsplf. where there is any 

 •lear case of neglect to observe the seed law. 



