1909.] 



Sale of Seeds in Germany. 



181 



It affords no guarantee, for instance, of the value or identity 

 of the variety, nor does it indicate how far the seed has been 

 taken from good specimens of the variety. In the case of 

 cereals, the important point is that the seed shall have come 

 from a variety giving a high yield, or having other desirable 

 qualities ; while in the case of roots the value of the crop 

 as regards dry matter and sugar has to be considered, and on 

 these points the testing of the seed will give no information. 

 To the practical farmer the question of price is also of the 

 first importance. 



In order to assist agriculturists on these points, the German 

 Agricultural Society has for many years carried on the busi- 

 ness of supplying seeds to its members and others under 

 conditions which are intended as far as possible to secure 

 not only purity and high germinating power, but also the 

 provision of seeds of reliable varieties. 



The work is under the management of a Committee of the 

 Society, and is divided into two parts : — (1) The Seed Bureau, 

 which manages the business connected with the sale of seeds ; 

 and (2) a section which undertakes all matters connected with 

 seed-breeding, testing of varieties, &c. The activities of the 

 Society in the latter direction are of great interest, and have 

 undergone considerable expansion in recent years. They 

 embrace (a) a register of pure-bred seeds; (b) a system of 

 "recognising" reliable varieties; (c) experiments for testing 

 the value of varieties ; and (d) competitions and prizes for 

 seed-farms and for seeds. 



The Register of Pure-bred Seeds. — The object of this 

 Register is to encourage the breeding of valuable varieties of 

 agricultural plants, to protect the originators of new varieties 

 against unfair competition, and to protect the purchasers of 

 seeds against deception as regards origin and description. 



The Register appears to have originated from the point of 

 view that when a plant-breeder as the result of many years' 

 work has had the good fortune to produce a new variety, he 

 may easily lose the reward of his labour owing to the variety, 

 after it has been placed upon the market, being cultivated, 

 and its seed sold by others. Many proposals were made in 

 Germany with a view to afford legal protection to the original 

 grower, but the difficulty of giving effect to them proved too 



