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Curlers Tested Seeds. Raynes Park. London. England. Photograph of the Main Building in the Testing Grounds. 
CARTERS TESTED SEEDS. 
T HE prominence we have given to our Trade Mark 
“Tested Seeds" over so long a period has repeatedly 
given rise to the question, “ What do you mean by 
Tested Seeds?” Believing that the raising, growing, 
testing, &c„ of Seeds will be a matter of interest to our 
Customers, we take this opportunity of giving an explanation 
of some of the methods that were employed leading up to 
the introduction to the gardening world of such well-known 
Peas as Telephone, Stratagem, Daisy, Michaelmas, 
Mayflower, Harvestman, 1 nternational, Quite Content, 
Market Gardener, Giant Lightning, &c., &c., a process 
which frequently involves seven to eight years of patient 
observation and labour before a new introduction can be 
placed with confidence before the attention of our Customers. 
We have selected culinary Peas as our illustration because 
they are more easily identified, but analogous methods have 
to be pursued in the improvement of all varieties of 
Vegetables and Flowers, a work which we have made — and 
still continue to make — a special feature of our business. 
Let us assume that one of our Experts has observed a 
promising seedling, produced from cross-fertilisation the 
previous year in our experimental grounds ; its merits and 
characteristics are carefully noted in our Garden Registers. 
Possibly it may produce an extraordinarily large pod, like 
Quite Content, or it may be earlier, later, taller, more 
prolific and compact, &c., than any other variety shown in 
our comparative trials to be in commerce. 
The produce of the plant is then carefully harvested and 
sown the following spring, when it again goes through the 
same routine, maybe for six or seven years, to secure 
constancy and fixation of its special characteristics ; the 
produce by this time may have increased to several bushels, 
when it is ready to be sown for a crop. Ground that is 
particularly suited to the variety is carefully selected, and 
the Seed is sown. In the early summer, when the plants 
are in maturity, our Experts, who have watched the 
character of the Pea ever since it was a seedling in our 
experimental grounds, examine every plant, eliminating any 
that show a weakness or lack of uniformity ; the crop is 
then harvested, stacked, and threshed, and eventually comes 
to our warehouse to be cleaned, hand-picked, and finally 
tested for germination. The subsequent processes of testing, 
&c., we have had pleasure in illustrating with notes in 
previous issues of our catalogue. 
A view of some of our seventy-five Cleaning and Pea-picking 
Machines, all driven by electric motors, has also been given. 
Number io is familiarly called in our warehouse the 
“ Dreadnought,” and stands sixteen feet in height. 
No weed, however nimble, or light seed can possibly 
escape its vigilance ; it is fed by an electric elevator, and its 
duties are exacting. 
In the first instance the seed travels into a large drum 
at the top of the machine and is brushed by rapidly revolv- 
ing specially prepared lambs’ skins, all small portions of 
husk and earth that may adhere to the seeds at the time of 
harvesting being removed. The seed then descends by 
gravitation (when all dirt, dust, and light seeds are drawn 
away by forced draught) on to sieves which, by an eccentric 
movement, take out all the “ smalls.” The whole combination 
is driven by a powerful electric motor, which also gathers 
the dust from and around the machine by suction, ready to 
be carted away and destroyed. 
The Peas are now cleaned and graded, but some are 
stained or injured by inclement weather or by the attacks of 
insects, which probably weaken their germination ; these 
must be picked out by hand. 
The founder of our firm, James Carter, was, we believe, 
the first to guarantee the germination of his Garden Seeds 
eighty-four years ago; the practice as amplified in our 
illustrations is still conducted annually by our Firm. 
All Vegetables, Flowers, and Farm Seeds, are grown 
at the same time as our Customers grow them, to full 
maturity, so that we may assure ourselves of the quality and 
trueness of each variety. By examining our trials from 
time to time we know exactly how the produce of our Seeds 
should appear in the gardens and farms of our Customers 
all over the World, making allowances for the various 
climates, and by the aid of our comparative tests (we try all 
Seeds of repute) we assure ourselves that our Customers are 
growing “ the best and only the best ” and “ Tested.” 
Seedsmen to H.M. the King, RAYNES PARK, LONDON, S.W 
