Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-03-05
SEED DEALERS HERE
HELD A MEETING AT wILLARD's
TODAY.

VI Htteeil met at the new Willard today TO
devise ways and means to keep the free
seed distribution clause out of the Agri-
cultural Department appropriation bill this
year The seed appropriation clause was
struck out of the bill In committee last
week and the seed sellers want, IL possible
to keep it out of the bill altogether, and
thus prevent what they consider unfair
competition on the part of the government
The free seed fight is quite as old as the
department itself. and started when the de-
partment was merely bureau of the patent
office and small appropriation was made
to enable the commissioner of patents to
BUY and distribute rare and valuable for
efgn seeds
1t was under this provision of the law
that tea culture was first introduced into
this country almost a century ago Since
then there have been a great many changes
and the seed distribution idea has grown
IN Importance, so that now the department
under mandatory law buys and distributes
free each year tons of grain flower and
vegetable seed.
Abuses Under the System.
There have been abuses under the sys-
nounced the free distribution work as pet
ty graft, during his administration and
there have been numerous attempts on the
part of the seed dealers to kill the law.
The Secretary of Agriculture does not like
the work particularly himself, but said in
an Interview some time ago that SO long
as he was ordered to do So he was going
to have the seed carefully analysed and
see that 1t all came up to sample. This has
been done very rigidy in the past few years
ana the result has been that the govern
ment was distributing free what as a gen.
eral rule was much better seed than the
average private consumer could get by pay
ing out real money for.
But the climax of the discomfort came
when recently, under a law also manda-
tory. the Secretary of Agriculture bought
hundreds of samples of seeds in the open
market, had them analysed and printed
the results with the names of the seed
firms attached. This blacklist showed that
about half of the grass, clover and alfalfa
seed from the firms In question was adul-
terated. some of it only a few per cent
and other lots as high as As, q and even
so per cent. The publication of this black
list raised an awful howl. and 1t is some
what natural that the seed sellers should
want to get in and cut the government out
of the seed business altogether
The officials of the Agricultural Depart
ment claim that the dealers have the s;tua-
ton entirely in their own hands. The de-
partment does not care particular whoop
about the work, in fact would rather de-
vote the time and energy 1t consumes to
some more striking and useful work.
The representatives do not care about 1t
either. 1t is more or less of a nuisance
they say. to be pestered by constituents for
seeds and to have to attend to mailing
three or four cents worth to several thou
sand different people. But the real pres
sure on the representative comes from the
people in his district. who know at the
present time that they can depend on the
seeds that they get from the Department
Of Agriculture and they cannot depend on
the seeds that they get at the corner
grocery
A Talk on the Matter.
One of the officials of the department in
talking about the matter to Star reporter
today said j..
''Of course. there are some seedsmen that
put out just as good seed as the Agricul-
tural Department. But the farmer and
the little man who is running his own truck
garden in a congressional district does not
know when he is buying seed from the
store whether he is going to get that sort
or not. II the seed dealers would just
make the men in their own business all put
out straight good seed, there would not
be the same pressure on the representatives
for the free department seeds. 1t is not so
much the money involved, for the money in
each is small. But the man who is
know that he is going to get something
and that something will be what he thinks
he planted.
purchasing and distributing provision
knocked out of the bill and be able to de-
vote our time to getting and experimenting
with rare foreign seeds and adapting new
varieties to the conditions In this country.
But l really believe that the pressure for
the seed distribution will be kept up by
the constituents and the provision for the
seed purchase will be inserted in the bill on
the floor of the House"
Meeting This Afternoon.
The seedsmen held their meeting this aft
ernoon at the New Willard. There were
present representatives from the following
firms:
NJ. Thorburn & Co., New York; j.
Breck Sons, Boston; Schlaegel & Toltler,
Boston; Comstock, Ferre & Co., Weathers-
field. Conn; ]. b. Rice Seed Company.
Cambridge, N. Y; Peter Henderson Com
pany. New York; Robt. Buist Co., VIM.
Henry Maule. w. A. Burpee. Johnson &
Stoke and the D. Landreth Seed Com
pany. all of Philadelphia; ]. M. McCul-
Tough & Sons Cincinnati: Griffith Turner,
Baltimore; F. W. Bolgiano. Washington,
and Northrop & King. Minneapolis.
The meeting discussed the general seed
situation and kept up it's meeting till late