236 



THE EDITORS OUTLOOK. 



to be without responsibility "in any respect," as 

 some seedsmen assert ? These are questions which 

 cannot be answered categorically, and the power of 

 the disclaimer has not been tested in court. It is 

 probable, however, that the court would hold that 

 it extends only to the common and unavoidable un- 

 certainties of seed vitality and variation, and does 

 not afford immunity from mixtures of varieties or 

 loss of quality which good care might have pre- 

 vented. The seedsman would in general be held 

 to the same implied warranty which adheres to 

 other merchants, but with the understanding that 

 failures due to causes entirely beyond his control 

 are not chargeable to him. It is certain that the 

 disclaimer could not cover cases of fraud. Two 

 maxims of law apply here: "A man cannot stipu- 

 late against his own fraud," and " Caveat emptot 

 never applies to fraud." 



Some have doubted if a contract which is made 

 by only one party is binding, but it must be remem- 

 bered that the purchaser assents to the contract if 

 he keeps the seeds bearing the disclaimer. The 

 disclaimer, however, covers only those packets upon 

 which it is printed. Tne contract only needs to be 

 brought to the personal knowledge of the purchaser 

 to be binding. 



It has been suggested that seedsmen give a war- 

 ranty of the per cent, which their seeds will test, 

 after the manner of the warranty attached to ferti- 

 lizers. But the very uncertainties which sustain 

 the disclaimer make this impracticable. A sample 

 may vary in per cent, of test from month to month, 

 and seed testing is not so invariable that absolute 

 results can always be obtained. Before any war- 

 ranty of this sort could be made, an official and le- 

 gal method of seed testing must be devised. It is 

 also suggested that seeds should be sold in dated 

 papers, as is now done by D. Landreth & Sons. 

 This is good so far as it goes, but it refers only to 

 age of seeds and does not in the least overcome the 

 common difficulties for which the disclaimer was 

 created. Still others desire that some law should 

 be enacted which should make the seedsman liable 

 for what he sells ; but the laws which apply to 

 other merchants also apply; with certain modifica- 

 tions, to him. Definite points will not be covered 

 until some litigation occurs which shall establish 

 precedents ; but the purchaser is undoubtedly pro- 

 tected by common law, and any court would prob- 

 ably allow the seedsman the immunity which the 

 disclaimer aims to secure. But the most gratifying 

 phase of the whole subject is the fact that no occa- 

 sion for litigation has arisen. 



THE year's rewards are half earned 

 when the sowing is done. Half 



our success lies in the plan which pre- 

 cedes the action. There is a feeling of generalship 

 in the management of a farm. One has a varied 

 host to marshal into the season's activities, and it 

 demands forecast to avoid fatal errors. It is strange 

 that at the very time when agricultural rewards ap- 

 pear to be fewest, the farmer still exercises greater 

 dominion over nature than ever before. There was 

 never a time when insects and diseases and even the 

 elements have been under man's control so com- 

 pletely as now. But greater control is demanded, 

 also, because of the competition in every business 

 and the demand that the farmer shall adapt his pol- 

 icy to the times. The fact is, that only those farm- 

 ers are succeeding w'ho are exercising every energy 

 to control the uncertainties of the business, and 

 thinking about their work. 



So the springtime is more important than the 

 harvest, because the harvest depends upon it. Sow- 

 ing is more than a merely perfunctory labor of get- 

 ting the seeds out of the way. We need to learn to 

 sow in the spirit of the season. In the rush and 

 confusion of " getting the crop in," we lose the les- 

 son and love of spring. Nature made the spring 

 last fall, and now she has no other thought than to 

 see it grow. The storms are as essential to it as the 

 sunshine, but to the farmer they seem to be only an 

 unmixed evil. They delay his planting because his 

 planting is not forehanded, and all summer they in- 

 terfere with his plans, and in the fall they spoil his 

 harvest. 



Yet life would scarcely be worth the living were it 

 not for the storms. They sweeten the sunshine, 

 and there is an element of strength and sympathy 

 in them which makes one feel near to nature. If 

 we cannot be afield ourselves, we can still sit in the 

 doorway, like Thoreau, and see the beans grow. It 

 is good for them, and somehow it is good for us too. 

 When it storms the mechanic and the merchant still 

 go to the routine of business, grumbling, perhaps, 

 that business is dull. But the farmer rests and his 

 his business thrives better, perhaps, than it did in 

 the sunshine. Every day's labor is new, and it ought 

 to be inspiring. No man has so great advantage of 

 weather as the farmer ! And how much happier 

 will he be, and more content with the great benefi- 

 cent forces of nature, if he will only look at the 

 weather in this light ! Being happier, his work 

 will go easier and better and faster. Then why 

 not be so much of a philosopher, farmer ? 



