The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1914-07-15
EXPLOOES PLAN
OF FREE" SEED
British Firm Lets Cat
Out Of Bag.
BOASTS SALES TO UNCLE SAM
Government Raises No Seed,
But Purchases Them In
Open Market.
(By Louis Ludlow


Washington, July 1.-THE fic-
tion that the members of Congress
/ furnish free seeds to their constit-
uents has just been exploded in a
startling way. The word free" as
applied to Government garden and
! flowers seeds has long been known
| by those ION the inside" to be a mis-
homer, albeit the average constit-
uent in the rural districts may think
he is getting something for nothing
There has been sort of popular
misconception of the whole free
seed business The generally pre-
vaiing idea, no doubt, is that the
Government raises the seeds on
Government grounds by Govern
ment employees, but the fact is that
the Government does nothing of the
sort. 1t buys seeds of seed dealers
at prices which are satisfactory to
the dealers and merely acts as the
distributing agency in getting them
out to the people, who pay the taxes
that pay for the seeds.
1t is all very simple when once
understood, but the operation of the
system is brought into striking re-
lief by circular which has fallen
into the possession of some of the
enemies of the free seed graft in
Congress, who will use it when the
proper occasion arises.
This letter has been sent out by
the firm of Messrs. Kelway & Son,
of Langport. Somerset, England,
and il lets the cat clear out of the
bag. This firm could not resist the
temptation to blow it's own horn by
heralding the fact that it furnishes
ono doubt at a very handsome price,
large share of the free seeds"
which the United States Govern
ment distributes to it's citizens, and
ii also reveals the interesting fact
that three other European firms are
similarly favored.
The letter contains two important
revelatiOns-first, that the Govern
ment buys the free Seeds" and.
secondly, that large proportion of
the seeds are produced, not in the
United States, but in Europe. Thus
the Government is making a hum
ming business for foreigners. paying
handsomely for the seeds and all
the cost of transportation, while all
the poor. buncOed farmer does to
get his. free seeds" is to reimburse
the Government for its outlay
through the various forms of taxa
ton that take money out of pri-
vate pockets and put it in the Fed
eral till.
The illuminating letter of the
follows:
THE United States Government
each year distributes, by order of
Congress, enormous quantities of
seeds throughout the United States,
free of cost
THE orders given are sometimes
very large, as may be judged from
the fact that Messrs. Kelway 4 Son,
Wholesale seed growers and mer-
chants, of Langport. Somerset, (who
have for some years been among the
successful competitors for a portion
of this order), have this year receiv-
ed from the United States Govern
ment at Washington, an order for
flower seeds and vegetable seeds
alone totaling In weight nearly for
ty-fOur tons.
This is probably one of the larg-
est orders for flower and vegetable |
seeds ever received by one firm from
one customer. as IL is not composed
even in part of agricultural seeds or
of large seeds. such as peas and |
beans. Many hundreds of acres
must have been under cultivation
for the production of the weight in /
question. How large an area such |
an enormous quantity of seeds
would SOW seems almost past human
"Of the four other European
firms who, In addition to the Lang
port firm. are this year favored by
the United States Government with
their order for seeds, one Is Eng |
lish. two French and one Dutch"
Must Lower Auto Lights.