
EASTERN STATES COOPERATOR 

JANUARY 1944 
Basis of Merit in 
EASTERN STATES 
Vegetahle Seeds 

Goop sEED is the first fundamental 
of successful gardening. The most 
careful grower cannot succeed with 
poor seed even though he gives close 
attention to all the other factors of 
production. The ability of seed to 
produce a satisfactory and desirable 
crop cannot be determined by the ap- 
pearance of the seed. It is for this 
reason that the selective cooperative 
setvice of the Exchange is of real as- 
sistance to vegetable growers whether 
they operate in their back yards or on 
a market gardening basis. Eastern 
States seed is seed of known perform- 
ance. The parentage and past per- 
formance of a seed stock are the 
indexes the Exchange relies on in 
appraising future crop producing 
power. 
vx Selection: To make this program 
effective, the Plant Industry Project 
of the Exchange, through extensive 
trials at Feeding Hills, Massachu- 
setts, and at other points in vegetable 
ateas, tests seed stocks for distribu- 
tion. 
Every lot of vegetable seed dis- 
tributed by the Exchange is included 
in these trials. Adaptation, trueness 
to type, productivity, and resistance 
to or freedom from disease are care- 
fully studied. Varieties or strains 
must prove their worth before they 
are made available to Eastern States 
members. 
3 Breeding: In conjunction with the 
trial work, plant breeding work is 
also constantly in progress for the 
improvement of present varieties and 
the creation of new and better ones. 
The purpose of all this careful work 
is to determine and make available 
the best ‘“‘consumer values’’ in seed. 
This value is measured in terms of 
dependable performance in the field, in 
the markets, and on the consumer’s 
table. 
s& Production: The seed for distribu- 
tion is procured by multiplying our 
own foundation stock seed and by 
purchases from sources of proven 
merit. The area of production is 
selected for its ability to produce 
economically high quality seed, as 
free as possible from disease. 
s Seed Treatment: Certain diseases 
ate catried on or in the seed and can 
be controlled by specific treatments. 
Seed for which an effective treatment 
has been demonstrated is so treated at 
the seed warehouse before shipment, 
where the chemicals can be properly 
and economically applied. 
Seed so treated should not be 
soaked before planting, as germina- 
tion may be materially injured. 
yj Description: Every lot of seed dis- 
tributed will show a report of the 
germination, the date of test and a lot 
number. The lot number is a code 
reference to our records of the his- 
tory, performance and production of 
that particular lot. Correspondence 
pertaining to the performance of 
Eastern States seed should include the 
specific lot number of the seed under 
consideration to aid investigation. 

Save the package or the tag on your 
Eastern States vegetable seed. Refer to the 
lot number when you write for further 
information. 
For the sake of uniformity in de- 
scribing the comparative earliness, 
size, and other characteristics of vari- 
eties, several years’ records from the 
Eastern States testing grounds at 
Feeding Hills, Massachusetts, have 
been used. 
“Days to grow’’ indicates the rela- 
tive earliness of varieties from seed to 
crop, and for kinds ordinarily trans- 
planted, from field setting to market 
crop. 
The number of days required by any 
particular variety to produce a crop 
will vary from place to place and from 
year to year, depending upon soil 
and seasonal conditions. Also charac- 
ters of growth will vary. For in- 
stance, a particular variety of corn 
will normally grow a taller stalk the 
farther north it is grown and a shorter 
stalk the farther south it is grown. 
yy Never be rough with seed. The 
careful handling of certain vegetable 
seeds in every handling operation is 
exceedingly important to assure suc- 
cessful stands in the field. The Eastern 
States Farmers’ Exchange has exer- 
cised every possible precaution in the 
harvesting, cleaning and shipping of 
such seed, fully realizing the extreme 
danger to germination from rough 
handling. 
This precaution applies particu- 
larly to the larger seeds such as peas 
and beans which have paired cotyle- 
dons with dry, brittle embryos. 
Dropping a bag or walking on one 
may reduce germination of its con- 
tents as much as 10 percent or more by 
cracking the seed internally, yet you 
may see little or no evidence of 
physical damage. 
Likewise, the seed of beets and 
chard will crumble very readily. This 
injury breaks up the seed clusters 
and increases the loose hull accumu- 
lation which interferes with uniform 
seeding. 
