The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1908-01-30


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There are three cardinal themes
which appeal to the interest-the self
interest-of the farmer: Crops, hogs
and cattle. Anything which relates d.
rectly to any of these vital topics is
sure to command the willing ear of
the man of the soil. 1t is not strange,
therefore, that the professional swind.
Ter who makes business of cheating
rhe farmer has recognized this fact
and made the most of it
For many years the improved seed"
Swindle has been one of the most sue
cessful and is taking hundreds of thou
sands of dollars from the pockets of
the farmers. Besides taking money
for something worthless or next
to worthless-it does the direct
damage of planting hundreds of
fields with seed inferior in germinat-
ing power or lacking in value per acre
VI the crop and of undermining pop
Mar confidence in the practical value
VI progressive work done by the agri-
cultural departments of the national
and state gOvernments-for too often
he seed swindlers claim an endorse
ment by some department or some
person connected herewith There is
not an agricultural department which
has not placed the emphasis of its
message to the farmer upon the great
gain in results to be had from the
careful selection of seed-whether in
rorn, in the smaller grains, in cotton
or in grasses, clovers and the forage
crops.
In the light of four years later a
man who would grossly overstate the
prospective yields of "billion-dollar
grass" not only securing the farmers
money, but inducing him to plant his
and to crop less productive of value
.han the crop he would otherwise con-
Iinue to grow, is business pirate.
The experiment stations and state
and United States departments of ag-
riCulture, state horticulture societies,
6eld crop breeders societies, the
American Breeders association, and
similar organizations, are rapidly de-
veloping the testing of standard, new.
iy introduced and newly bred varie-
lies. so that they are able to advise
FARMERS which varieties to use in their
regular business planting.
The tree agent who induced the pio-
neer farmer to purchase from large
fruit pictures orchard trees in which
the family long hoped, but which
a.
neer mother had brought up her fam
ily and had gone to her reward. has a
mighty black spot in his record of
deeds done. The seed firm which sold
my friend Clark Red top seed in which
Kentucky blue grass seed was mixed
for permanent hay meadow far
north, made well nigh worthless large
areas of peaty land situated where it
could not be pastured, but would have
permanently produced fine crops of
timothy. The dealer was crimlnally
ignorant, because he was asked for
seed for specific purpose, and he
put in the blue grass, which grows too
short to NOW for hay, but crowds out
the variety suited to cut for hay.
The man who sold Burbank plums
IN region so cold that they could not
stand the severe winters is more gull,
jy than the man who steals your
purse. He gets a paltry 50 each for
trees that would have been valuable
elsewhere, but for this small consider.
alton he robs the farmer of his time,
mis- land, of his opportunity to use
hardy plum trees, and even robs him
and his neghbors of their faith in the
possibilities of family plum lot.
Our experiment station and depart,
ment plant men are rapidly learning
Ihe seed and plant variety business.
They are not only learning how to
create new values by breeding, but
they are learning how to distribute
new stocks of seeds and plants. They
are organizing the testing of varieties
so that few mistakes need be made
they are coming to insist for them
selves, for the domestic scotsman and
nursery man and for the foreign seed
house that the varieties must be
tested within each state before they
VIII SuuOISe tueln. Sc6N vendors are
gradually coming to see that they
must get into line with the efficient
and vigorous public seed service, anC
that they must sell only seeds which
will produce wealth. A general label
ing law is being talked of, and this
would make it dangerous to sell two
varieties out of the same bin of seeds
Or sell trees under their wrong name
AS it would prevent the clothing
dealer from selling as all wool cloth
ing two-thirds cotton and one.thirt
wool.
Now the seed or tree swindlers en-
deavor to convert all the newly ere
ated sentiment arising from the worl
of the plant scientists for careful seeC
selection into grist for their mill. Al
most of their representations are
mace by personal solicitors, the.
are able to claim depart Aent'
endorsement with a freedom anC
recklessness which they would, per
haps, not use in printed matter sen
through the mails-although they d.
not hesitate SO to "anstruct theii