1922.] 



Working of the Seeds Act, 1.920. 



833 



nursery trades. This fact makes it very difficult for the Ministry 

 to bring to the notice of the various sellers their responsibilities 

 under the Act, and still more difficult to detect evasions. A large 

 number of establishments have, however, been visited, and the 

 usual explanations and warnings given. These visits, combined 

 with propaganda work which the Ministry is undertaking in order 

 to make known the requirements of the Seeds Act, have already 

 had verv satisfactorv results. 



The principal errors made by vendors of seed potatoes have 

 been as regards the " size and dressing." This term is 

 described in the Eegulations as meaning " the size of the mesh 

 (exclusive of the thickness of the wire) of the riddles through and 

 by which, respectively, the potatoes may be passed and 

 retained." The Eegulations concede in the case of seed 

 potatoes sold " as gi'own " that the size of the mesh of the top 

 riddle need not be stated. There have been a large number of 

 cases in which a substantial proportion of the potatoes were much 

 too large to pass through a mesh of the size declared. 



Farmer to Farmer Sales. — One of the greatest difficulties in 

 connection with the administration of the Act is to bring home 

 to farmers theii- responsibilities when selling seeds to other 

 farmers. When selling seed corn or any of the scheduled kinds 

 of seeds intended for sowing, such as red clover, tares, etc., 

 they are in precisely the same position as the seedsman, and are 

 bound to supply the same guarantee. Thus a farmer selling a 

 sack of home-gi'own clover seed to a neighbour for sowing 

 should, in the first place, have a sample tested at an Official 

 Seed Testing Station, and supply the buyer with a copy of the 

 result not later than the date on which the seed is delivered. 



Various methods have been adopted to bring to the notice of 

 the farmer the benefits which he derives from the operations of 

 the Act when he is a buyer of seeds, and the responsibilities 

 which are his when he is a seller. With the welcome assistance 

 of the National Farmers' Union and other farmers' organisa- 

 tions, a large number of leaflets have been distributed, para- 

 graphs have been inserted in the country newspapers from time 

 to time, and the co-operation of the local Agi'icultural Education 

 Authorities and the Agricultural Colleges has been enlisted. In 

 referring to the number of farmers' samples sent for testing to 

 the Official Seed Testing Station, the Chief Officer of the Station 

 in his report for the season 1920-21 says: — "In any county 

 the number of farmers using the Station appears to be in direct 



B 



