480 



SEED WARRANTY. 



samples rot ; storing in a dark cool cellar with the same 

 result, the leaves turning yellow in two weeks ; cutting 

 into barrels and freezing till wanted, but this did not 

 1 work. Two weeks is the limit of its life after cutting. 

 The cost of preparing the land in favorable weather 

 is little, and the cost of the seed in bulk being about 

 fifteen cents a pound, the whole cost of preparing and 

 sowing an acre need not exceed five dollars. Planted in 

 freshly plowed and damp soil, it comes up at once. Dry 



weather is almost fatal to the seed, and if sown then it 

 should be tread down in the rows with the feet. One 

 of my neighbors will not plant before a hard shower, or 

 long rain, as he thinks the seed will not come up. I 

 have not verified this. Here we practice drill sowing, 

 not broadcasting. It should be hoed in fall to keep 

 down the weeds which will start if the land is in good 

 heart — and spinach should be sown on no other soil. 

 Hampden Co., Mass W. H. Bull. 



SEED W 



THE liability of seedsmen for losses that 

 may occur from seeds sold that fail to ger- 

 minate, or to produce such results as the 

 purchaser had a right to expect, or had 

 hoped to reap, is a subject of vital importance to 

 the seedsman, and of no small importance to the 

 purchaser. In all mercantile transactions, in fact 

 in every instance of purchase and sale, it is expected 

 that the article sold shall be as represented, and 

 that the purchaser has a just claim for such damage 

 or loss as he may sustain in case the goods are not 

 as represented. In most instances, there is but 

 little chance of mistake, as the goods show plainly 

 what they are, and the purchaser pays but little at- 

 tention to representations, he being his own judge. 



He who buys seeds, plants or trees cannot use his 

 own judgement in the matter, and must depend entirely 

 upon the dealer, other than to express a choice as to 

 variety. There is nothing in the external appearance of 

 the seed or the tree that in any way indicates the produc- 

 tion, consequently there is no alternative ; he must de- 

 pend upon the dealer, and, in so doing he naturally feels 

 himself entitled to the same warranty he would be com- 

 pelled to give if he were selling a cow or a horse, and that 

 the dealer would be just as responsible in case the seeds 

 were not as represented. This is a very natural conclu- 

 sion for those unacquainted with seed growing to reach, 

 as they cannot see why the law of warranty should not 

 apply to all alike ; it is, however, a conclusion that does 

 the seedsman great injustice, and at times great injury. 



No class of business men are more anxious about the 

 goods they sell than the seedsmen. Upon the reliability 

 of the seeds he sells rests his success or failure. The 

 seedsman who has the confidence of the market gardener 

 and florist is sure to succeed ; this confidence can only 

 be secured by having the seeds he sells produce the re- 

 sults the buyer anticipates, from the descriptions given 

 in the catalogues. This in a general way, is a difficult 

 matter, as a large proportion of the growers are not 

 sufficiently acquainted with the cultivation and require- 

 ments of the variety to produce the results that have 

 been obtained by high and systematic cultivation. It 

 must be understood that this applies to new varieties 

 more particularly than to standard sorts, and new var- 



ieties are almost invariably the results of selection com- 

 bined with high cultivation. It is no secret that the 

 size and shape, as well as the yield of a given variety, is 

 proportionate to the conditions of growth. Now, when 

 a given potato is said to yield five hundred bushels to 

 the acre, when a squash will weigh three hundred pounds, 

 tomatoes give eight hundred bushels to the acre, all 

 smooth and large, and egg-plants have fruits weighing 

 from seven to ten pounds each, it should be understood 

 that these are only capabilities, results that have been 

 obtained, and can be again, under the same conditions. 

 The average purchaser of these wonderful varieties will 

 not approximate these results. 



It should go without saying, that many soils are not 

 by nature adapted to the growth of many varieties, and 

 will not under any circumstance yield the enormous 

 crops that other soils will do without special effort. We 

 have known the seedsman very unjustly blamed for this 

 condition. Not long since our attention was called to a 

 pea crop, by a market gardener, who complained that 

 his peas were full of " runners." Upon inspection, we 

 found that they were planted on a very poor soil, and 

 had received about the same attention ; stable manure, 

 quite fresh, had been used, and this put on very uneven- 

 ly, in some places quite thick, in others none at all. 

 The result was, where the plants had plenty of food, 

 they grew tall and vigorous ; in other places they were 

 dwarf and unproductive ; the tall ones he called "run- 

 ners." It was with much difficulty that we convinced 

 him that the tall growths were genuine and the dwarf 

 ones were simply starved. The seedsman has such oc- 

 currances constantly brought before him, and not unfre- 

 quently with a demand for damages. 



From long experience and close observation, we are 

 convinced that there is not one case in a hundred where 

 complaint is made that the seedsman is in the least to 

 blame for the failure of crops, or in any way responsi- 

 ble for the loss. Conditions of growth are varied, and it 

 is upon these that success or failure, in a great meas- 

 ure, depends. The extremes of heat and moisture are 

 prominent among the causes of failure. 



We do not think there is a class other than seedsmen 

 that has half so many obstacles to contend with, or one 

 more willing to assume the responsibility of losses, that 

 are justly attributable to them. Seed Grower. 



