Penn State Ballhead Cabbage has produced 26 tons per acre. We offer 
our members seed of the official strain developed by Dr. C. E. Myers 
of the Pennsylvania State College. 
seed supply with this type of inheritance for 
dependable performance. 
Cooperative Vegetable Seed Service 
Successful gardening is dependent, to a 
large extent, upon the character of seed used. 
Through experience farmers have come to 
recognize the need for a cooperative vegetable 
seed service for more dependable crop pro¬ 
duction of the desired type and economy in 
the purchase of their basic and most important 
raw material — seeds. 
Farmer Ownership and Control 
The Eastern States Farmers' Exchange is 
a non-stock, non-profit cooperative organiza¬ 
tion, owned and controlled by the farmers it 
serves. The only requirement for membership 
is participation and each member benefits in 
proportion to his purchases. Through a large 
volume of cooperative business farmers have 
accumulated adequate capital, developed 
ample facilities and employed trained per¬ 
sonnel to carry out the sole purpose — service 
to its members. 
Method of Procedure 
Information is assembled from producers, 
marketing agencies, processors and consumers 
to ascertain the types of the various vegetables 
preferred because of their superiority in 
production, distribution, manufacture and 
consumption. 
Extensive Trials in Many Places 
Seed performance is observed by comparing 
the most promising varieties, strains and seed 
sources in order to determine their adaptation 
to the principal vegetable producing regions, 
trueness to the desired types, productiveness 
and resistance to or freedom from disease. 
Seed Improvement Is Thorough 
Plant breeding operations are performed by 
trained specialists working in cooperation with 
State Experiment Stations and the United 
States Department of Agriculture. In-breed¬ 
ing purifies strains so that they come true 
with uniformity; hybridization instills ex¬ 
treme vigor; cross-breeding creates new lines 
of the desired type; progeny reproduction 
affords pureline selections; and mass produc¬ 
tion assures economy in the development of a 
Seed Is Treated to Control Disease 
Disease control, through a complete sched¬ 
ule of seed treatment, is performed at its 
source before the seeds are shipped because 
here the deadly chemicals and delicate heat 
treatments are most effectively applied, 
accurately controlled and economically done. 
(See kind of seed treatment over each com¬ 
modity quoted.) * 
The Exchange Keeps a Complete 
Record of Each Lot of Seed 
Each lot of seed distributed will show a 
report of its germination, the date of test and 
will be identified by a brief descriptive name. 
In our records every lot will be identified with 
each purchase by a code mark which repre¬ 
sents a complete history of the strain. The 
crop will tell its own story to the gardener, the 
produce buyer and the ultimate consumer. 
Future seed distribution must be based upon 
satisfactory performance and economical 
distribution. 
Suggestions for Trial Tests 
The seed supply is procured through the 
multiplication of our own foundation seed 
stocks and by purchases from sources of 
proven merit. Every lot of seed distributed is 
tested for vitality and proven in our trials by 
plant growth to productive maturity. The 
seed is thoroughly cleaned, graded or hand¬ 
picked and thus refined with a margin of 
safety for true economic values and uni¬ 
formity in a field stand. 
However, one identical lot of seed may per¬ 
form quite differently under a variety of soil, 
weather or cultural conditions. It is therefore 
essential to make several plantings in dif¬ 
ferent places at intervals in the planting 
season. This will assure a higher degree of 
satisfaction to the grower who desires to make 
comparison tests. 
Since this service is a means of improve¬ 
ment over ordinary sources of seed, the Ex¬ 
change reserves the privilege of filling orders 
by including a small amount of one or several 
promising strains to be compared with the 
particular strain originally selected to fill 
the order. 
* Corrosive sublimate treatment may be 
substituted for hot water treatment if neces¬ 
sary to maintain strong vitality. Organic 
Mercury treatments may replace Red Copper 
Oxide whenever seedling vigor can be in¬ 
creased. 
