2023 New York Laws › AGM - Agriculture and Markets › Article 9 - Inspection and Sale of Seeds › 136 - Definitions.

§ 136. Definitions. As used in this article unless otherwise expressly
  stated, or unless the context or subject matter otherwise requires:
1.  The  term  "person"  shall  include  any  individual, partnership,
  corporation, company, society, or association.
2. The term  "seed"  means  botanical  structures  used  for  planting
  purposes  and  commonly  referred  to  as "seed" within this state. This
  includes potato  tubers  when  such  tubers  are  represented  as  being
  suitable for planting purposes.
3.  The  terms "agricultural seeds" and "crop seeds" include the seeds
  of grass, forage,  cereal,  field  beans,  and  fiber  crops,  including
  "industrial  hemp"  as  defined  in  section  five  hundred five of this
  chapter, or any other kinds of seeds  commonly  recognized  within  this
  state as agricultural seeds, lawn seeds, and mixtures of such seeds.
4. The term "vegetable seeds" includes seeds of those food crops which
  are grown in gardens and on truck farms and are generally known and sold
  under the name of vegetable or herb seeds in this state.
5.  The  term "flower seeds" includes seeds of herbaceous plants grown
  for their blooms, ornamental foliage,  or  other  ornamental  parts  and
  commonly known and sold under the name of flower seeds in this state.
6.  The  term  "tree  and  shrub seeds" includes seeds of woody plants
  commonly known and sold as tree or shrub seeds in this state.
7. The term "noxious weed seeds" are those noxious  weed  seeds  which
  are objectionable in agriculture crops, lawns, and gardens of this state
  and which can be controlled by good agricultural practices or the use of
  herbicides.  Noxious  weeds  and  the  number of such noxious weed seeds
  allowable per pound of seed shall be established in  regulation  by  the
  commissioner   in   consultation  with  experts  in  seed  certification
  including, but not limited to, programs at the  college  of  agriculture
  and life sciences at Cornell university.
8.  The  term  "labeling" refers to statements written or imprinted on
  the seed container itself or on a tag or label securely attached  to  it
  as specified in the label requirements of this law.
9.  The  term  "advertising" means all representations, other than the
  required label statements made in any manner or by any means relating to
  seed within the scope of this act.
10. The term "stop-sale" means an  administrative  order  provided  by
  law,  restraining the sale, use, disposition, and movement of a definite
  amount of seed.
11. The term "seizure" means a legal  process  carried  out  by  court
  order against a definite amount of seed.
12.  The  term  "kind" means one or more related species or subspecies
  which singly or collectively is known by one common name,  for  example,
  corn, oats, alfalfa, and timothy.
13.  The term "variety" means a subdivision of a kind characterized by
  growth, yield, disease resistance, plant, flower, fruit, seed  or  other
  characteristics   by  which  it  may  be  differentiated  under  certain
  conditions from other plants of the same kind.
14. The term  "lot"  means  a  definite  quantity  of  seed  which  is
  identified  by a lot number or other mark, and which has been so handled
  that each portion or container is representative of the whole quantity.
15. The term "hybrid" means the first generation of a  cross  produced
  under  controlled  pollination. The parents must be sufficiently uniform
  to  permit  repeated  production  of  the  hybrid  without   change   in
  performance. Hybrid designations shall be treated as variety names.
16.  "Pure seed" means agricultural, vegetable, flower, tree, or shrub
  seeds exclusive of  inert  matter,  weed  seeds,  and  all  other  seeds
  distinguishable from the kinds, or kinds and varieties being considered.
17.  The  term  "percentage  of  germination"  means the percentage of
  seeds, other than hard seeds, which  are  capable  of  producing  normal
  seedlings under favorable conditions.
18.  The  term "percentage of hard seed" means the percentage of seeds
  which are incapable of sprouting promptly because their outer structures
  are impermeable to water.
19. The term "treated" means that the seed has received  an  effective
  application  of  an  approved substance or method designed to control or
  repel plant disease organisms, insects, or other pests; or has  received
  some other treatment to improve its planting value.
20. "Certified", "registered", "foundation", "phyto-inspected", or any
  other  terms  conveying  similar  meaning, when referring to seed, means
  seed which has been produced or collected,  processed,  and  labeled  in
  accordance  with  the  procedures  and  in compliance with the rules and
  regulations  of  an  officially  recognized  certification   agency   or
  agencies.
21.  "Officially  recognized"  means  recognized and designated by the
  laws or regulations of any state, the United  States,  any  province  of
  Canada, or the government of any foreign country wherein said seeds were
  produced,  except  that  if  said  seeds are produced in New York state,
  section one hundred forty-one shall govern.
22. "Mulch" means a protective  covering  of  any  suitable  substance
  placed  with  seed  which  acts to retain sufficient moisture to support
  seed germination and sustain  early  seedling  growth  and  aid  in  the
  prevention  of  the  evaporation of soil moisture, the control of weeds,
  and the prevention of erosion.
23. "Mixture," "mix," or "mixed" means seed consisting  of  more  than
  one kind, each in excess of five percent by weight of the whole.