Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Broadly speaking, the growing of farm ind garden seeds may be considered the most important of agricultural indus tries, for unless the quality of the seed is maintained, the succeeding crop is greatly diminished in volume and deter iorated in quality, so that if applied to the country as a -hole, the loss would be enormous. "The great magnitude of the American seed business is little appreciated." said a prominent seed dealer in describing the car-loads of field and garden seeds which he handles each spring. 'The producing capacity of the seeds quickly deteriorates, in most instances, and the most successful farmers buy large quan tities of seeds. The farmer is a some what cautious individual, and although he buys, on an average, double the amount of seeds he did ten years ago, he has not, in every instance, reached the point where he recognizes that the greatest economy lies in getting the best and patronizing only those houses whose reputation forbids them to sell poor and adulterated seeds." Seeds Apt to Retrograde. The deterioration in many seeds is very marked, and large seedmen go to great lengths to produce the best pos sible seed and to have various establish ments in different parts of the- country where the conditions are the best for production. It is not possible that the best results can be attained in produc ing a great number cf seeds on any one farm or in any one locality, however favored. The soil and climate which may be the best adapted for producing cne kind of seed may result only in a very inferior seed from some other kind Courtesy A..T. Pieters, Department of Agriculture. of plant. So that seeds, as they are handled by the big seedsmen, are gath ered in by them from all parts c' the country from Maine to California. In the latter state some of the vastest seed fields of the world are found, where the eye ranges over unbroken rows, miles in extent, at least as far as the eye can reach. If all this industry should cease for a year and the farmer and gardener became dependent for the succeeding crop on the seeds which he would him self save during the year, the shrinkage in production throughout the country would amount to tens of millions of dollars. In the Olden Times. Of course, in the early days each farmer saved his own seed; possibly he exchanged seeds with one or two neigh bors or friends. At that time there was little competition in farming, the produc tion of the farm was used mainly for the support of the family, and the farm supplied practically all the necessities and even the luxuries of life. The earliest seed-farm in the United States is believed to have been started by David Landreth, the origihator of the present big seed house. This was before the 'Revolutionary war, on a small farm, now included in the city of Philadelphia. It is estimated that over 250,ooo acres, including land I probably every state in the Union, ar now devoted solely to growing see crops, and some of the largest growers plant annually as high as 2,000 acres. Get Good Clover Seed. The advantage of securing good ger minating seed is manifest. Take for instance clover seed which is sown on wheat-stubble in the spring. It is al ways possible to secure it at 5o cents or $1.oo per bushel below the market price quoted by the reputable seedsmen. What is the result of *sing such seed? It must be considered a foregone con clusion that such seed is poor, worth even, less than the reinced price at which it is offered. The land has been prepared for pasture or hay. some of the fertilizer used on the wvheat crop still remaining in the soil for the use of the clover and timothy, and the grass and clover seed is sown to become the de pendence of the farmer for his hay crop. Ie buys cheap seed: 30. 40. 50 or 6o per cent of it is an adulteratio of seed which has been killed or is old, dead or weak clover seed. The re mnainder is good, fresh seed. If he buys this seed, likely putting off purchas until the eleventh hour. and uses without testing its germinating qual ities, he may be lucky if he gets half AMERICAN SEED GROWIN( Cheap Seeds the Most Expensive GUY ELLIOTT MITCHELL lies idle and he curses his luck which has thus shown itself against him, whereas the fault was his own, and he was simply penny wise and pound foolish. This can be said of many different kinds of seed. Or suppose he buys expensive early cabbage or radish seed, it is an easy matter for the unscrupulous dealer to mix this seed half and half with very cheap late cabbage or radish seeds, pre viously killed (so that they will not come untrue to name), and unless the buyer is particularly observant it may never occur to him that he has been buncoed. Tricks of Some Pealers. Another method of defrauding the seed buyer, practiced by cheap seedsmen who never expect to do business a sec ond time with the customer, is to sell him outright the cheap seeds of some plant such as a muskmelon, for instance, tnder a label of some new or high priced varietly. He puts in a hard sea son's work trying to raise good musk melons, and at the end he finds he has a heterogeneous collection of inferior sorts. Still another practice which the reputable seedsmen will not counten ance is to sell seeds which may be true to name and which will also germinate, but which are weak and poor. An ex ample of this was noticed by the writer in the Colorado muskmelon fields. The Rocky Ford cantaloupes had for some vcars attained a country-wide fame tnrough their sweetness and fine flavor. They were shipped all over the Urited States. Then came a great demand for A Field of Seed Lettuce. Parsnip Groswing For Seed. California Scenes. Rocky Ford seed. At the end of the cantaloupe season various individuals could be seen going over the Rocky Ford cantaloupe patches and disem boweling immature and frosted canta loupes for their seed. This seed, it is true, was genuine Roc~ky Ford canta loupe seed, and it would probably ger minate 95 or 98 per cent., but it is ob vious, its sale as first-class seed was: an imposition. Nevertheless thousands of packages were annually foisted upon seed buyers. So if you are going to buy seed, and buying seed to a greater or less extent is advisable, not to say necessary, it becomes a foregone conclusion that it pays to buy good seed and therefore to know from whom you are buying. The Government Seed Business. The Agricultural Department is busier than usual sending out millions of pack ages of free seeds for Congressmen. It should be understood that this free seed distribution, while carried out by the Secretary of Agriculture, is no scheme of his, but is a Congressional affair, pure and simple. In every session there is one or more bills introduced abolisaing what has been termed by more than one AN OCEAN 0 Flower Seed Growmg Congressman the free seed farce, and speeches have been made annually, de riding the practice, showing that ais unnecessary and unprofitable anda waste of 'public money:; yet when it ,.,,s to itngi for a meure which: tf abolishes a system whereby the Con gressmen who wants to keep in touch with his constituents has an opportunity to mail out a little package of garden seeds to his entire list of voters, he cheerfully votes against the measure and instead votes for an appropriation of over a quarter of a million of dollars a year for free garden and flower seeds. If some body would introduce a bill, even with this big appropriation, but speci- I fying that the Seeretary of Agriculture should expend the money in procuring i and distributing only such seeds and r SEED LE TTUCE AND C plants as may lie of real value to the - farmer in a Cor.gressional district. new and imnproved varieties, even though only one package could be sent out where now a score or two are sent, the expenditure would be defensible. This I would he building up our agriculture. t and there would be cases where the t ntire agricultural output would be I changed, greatly to the advantage of I the farm. The Secretary i,, in fact, t employing this idea, as far as he is left i any discretion in the matter of seed distribution. He is allowed by Congress a small appropriaticn of this free seed money. and where his explorers in the 1 old countries of the world have brought 1 in new plants and seeds which it is be- t ieved will be an irrprovenent on those already grown by American farmers, he sndls these out in sufficient amount to admit of a rational test by a farmer. Time to Abolish the System. As it is now carried out, the free seed istribution should be stopped. and the work of supplying the ordinary farm and grden seeds, the results of which are .aown to everybody, should be left to he regular secdmen. The seed business of the United States s one of great magnitude. While there re, of course, unscrupulous and fake eed houses who do not hesitate to dulterate the seeds they supply, the re utable firms take great care in seeing hat their seeds are not only fresh, with ood germinating powers. but true to ame. The old-fashioned way was for ach grower to save his own seed, but n many of our principal, crops It is ound that the seeds grown in certain lo alities produce heavier yields, and while f the planting is done a little out of the riginal habitat of the plant the first :op may not app)reciably deteriorate the econd year, the crop from that seed wvill showv a marked falling off in yield. [t. is for this reason that some of the .isest farmers a.nd planters send regu larly considerable distances for seed. The seed catalogues always carry a aumber of pages; of novelties and new arieties which are described in an ex tremely attractive form. It is well enough to try these novelties, but it is good advice to consider them as such nd have the main crop to fall back pon from the standard or well-tried varieties which have stood the test of years.1 An e~xamination of many of the seeds f common vegetable and forage re-1 veals the fact that an immense amount of poor seed is sold to American .farna-1 ers and gardeners. Farmers as a rule are responsible for this condition, since, as has been said, many of them buy the cheapest seed in the market and trust entirely to luck for it to produce the en tire ci-op. Such seed is dear at any price, and is withal one of the principal source of the hosts of bad weed~s which are to be seen upon many fa-ms. For the last few years there has been a constantly increasin'g outcry aginmst /i FSWEET PEAS. is an Extensive Industry. Sthe seeds sold by unscrupsous .dealers and w'ith it a demand for legislation. Congres and a few states have passed laws regulating the trade in seeds. The Secretary of Agriculture under an Act of Congres h-a authority to. and does, purchase in cpcn market samples c seeds of grazing and forage plants, te! the same and publish the names of pet sons selling adulterated seeds. So cxtensive is the seed business i the United States that many seednien g to an enormous expense in publishin each year catalogues giving the man varieties offered for sale by them. Home Tests of Seeds. The Department of Agriculture in ot der to aid farmers to determine fo themselves without much trouble th germinating qualities of seeds purchase, by them, has issued a number of bulle tins upon the subject. A very simpl apparatus for sprouting seeds is describ ed in the bulletin. It consists of a shal low tin basin or one of granite ware The bottom of the basin is covered wit] water and a small flat bottom of porou clay is placed inside. The seeds afte having been soaked are laid betweei two layers of moist blotting paper o flannel cloth. A pane of glass covers th dish, which is to be kept in a tempera ture of about 70 degrees. The atmospher :f an ordinary living room is suitable i :are is taken to set the apparatus near stove at night. The basin may be lef ? 1a - NIONS IN hEAD >a-tly open from time to time to admit he exchange of air and gases. using a rood-sized dish with small saucers and enewing the water occasionally. Sev ral kinds of seed may be tested at once t a trifing cost. The Department cau ions the far,. r against extremes of emperature and excessive moisture dur. ng the experiments. In some of the arger and more reliable seed houses of his country there is a well-equipped .nd appointed incubator room in whici :ets are made by thle seedmien in )rder to ascertain whether or not the leeds will really grow. This is done vith every lot of seed that comes in he warehouse and before distribu ion through the country. Results of A HUNDRED ACRE RADISH FIELD. hese growths are recorded in a book Ld kept for ready reference in the vent of complaints. The busiest times n the American seed warehause is fromr November to March, and often April, vhen enormous quantities of seeds and ulbs pass through the buildings first ir arge sacks and later in smaller pack. Lges by mail and express on their way o the progressive American agrictul :urist. P-eserving Strict Silenee. In Korea the women, on their wed ling day, will not open their mouths to peak, no matter what the temupta :ionl or provocation. Sometimes this silence is continued hrough the first week of married life. Although no such custom exists ii the Western world, extraordinary cases ara not wanting. In the early fortie! a New York lady unaertook, for wager of $150, to remain mute durini the month of her married life. Her new-made hresband, who, natur ally, was not in the secret, was so mucl incensed at his bride's behavior, tha he left her before her tasim was comn pleted, only to return later when ap prised of the real reason for this un natural silence. On one anniversary of their weddini day a Brussels couple quarrelled s bitterly that the wife, in a passion vowed that her husband shouild neve again hear the sound of her voice. Sb would there and then have left th< house, but her now penitent husban implored her not to desert him. T that extent only did his entreaties pre vail, for she kept the letter of her oatl and never in her spouse's presenc did she unloose her tongue. An Austrian woman, whose husbani was in hiding from the authorities, ii advertently betrayed his whereabout to a neighbor. who was secretly in th pay of the police. As a result, he wa taken, and received a term of imprisoi ment. So much did his wife take to hear this misfortune, which had bee: brought about by her gossip, that sh resolved for the remainder of her li1 to remain mute. She would not mak an exception even in her husband favor, for, although she received hit on his release with the utmost affe< tion, she maintained an obdurat silence till her death, three years latel Cordial Foreign Relations. Mrs. O'Riley-And are yez on spakh terms wid Mrs. Zylonskl. Mrs. Murphy-AV course I am. Sb called me a thafe an' I told her sh was another. RilR p iSEl n DURPEE'SSEou flowers you should read BURPEE'S FARI I as the "Leading American Seed Catalogue." Y address TO-DAY. W. ATLEE Bi OW TO BUILD AN We will send C e let. niutrme INCUBATOR eerie Incubator** BROODER Iand Brooderpln free showing how to - 'build your own machines at e little cost. Anyone can do it. Also fine illustrated catalog of Incubator and Brooder bug:r PLANS lies.Write for both. HPLANS P.'M. SHER CO. F R E E Dept. 37 Quincy DL! A MOST VALUABLE BOOK r on fertilizers and how to use them, entitled "FOOD FOR PLaNTs," is being. distributed by the Nitrate Propaganda, New York. A post card with your addrcss will bring you a copy free. LiratePropaganda,AndersonBuilding, NewYork is the title of Our New Ca1 ful and instructive hortic 186 pages-700 engravi 7 duotone plates of veget To give thIs catalogue the largest poss, Every Et To every one who will st: eneloses Ten Cents (in stamn p of charge, our famous 50-Ces intg one packet each ot Giant J Gianr Victoria Asters, mixed; h and Wite Tippje Scarlet Radii and returned, will be acceptg amounting to $z.coand upward FAT PEOPLE I Will SendYou aTrialTreatmentree ean reduce your weight Three tW Five Pounds a We.k and turn Iill health into robust health, men tal sluggishness into activity, and relieve that feeling of fullnessand 6% oppression by producing healthy A digestion and assizuilatioti. No distasteful dieting or starvation, no exereibase. no nauseating drugs or sicken~ng e"pills that ruin the stomach. I am a re'uL practising physlis and a spe cialst in the succeis ful reduction of su perfluous fat. My new and scientifically per fected method steengthens the heart and enables you o breathe easily, snd qu4ckly removes double. Thisurg setosis and pat hipr. aromineutpsiciacadvise their patients to take MY teut and leading doetors them selves a". my patleats. I absolutely guarantce stisfatlon in every cue. Write to-sy fpr free trial treatment. I will aenc send you free mynow bookonObelty. It Hoillgiveyoudetaiied outliBe of my treatment; it will he sent You free. Address HEIRY C. BRADFORD- M-. D G3 Bra . dldia, 0 east ion Sre, ow tork iy. THeOGARDE MAKIE s(l sholdbeset t nc Bt H. D. mna Thi sugetiv lTtlebot's aptcR teaheruld puiet ple the r t faif Thsool me s e ery act nth einci tHwrto Schold oa Homlue) CO TNT:Itrdco;How to v inTaren ore-ade Musi Septeme Bib Platigmeed oting et; Ro ks Grfin - ie x ae,17 bineing l By sial' aranemn with oband p gosito ma e er pagll oi t.Ter'ghm originalit aden Mgaine hr comm aens el1yo 0ho etone hpospaid, m t kin hpblis hems inAerco tai shoudve seiln a onea to spnd. nda Thisfo offrn e htk And iTht's wot e olro te go sheud your dihe ost five tofenst MAXWELL'S HME Howto uil aisHoeul ARE THE BEST Os THAT CAN BE CROWN rant the choicest vegetablesormost beautiful V1 ANNUAL FOR 1906,-so well known tis mailed FREE to all. Bettersendyour RPEE & CO., PHILADELPHIA. 40 BULBS, 25 Cents. Tullis Hac'lntlis, Crocus Japan Lily. Snowdrop, l$cissn. l Chionodoxa, Paconis. For 25c., samps or cotn, we will send this magnieena collection of bulbs, and also as a premium a ln collection of flower weeds. 256 varieties FRE ordrto-day.and be sure to getthem intimeforanE WOODLAWN NURSERY, MA.EN,A talogue for 1906-the most beauti :ultural publication of the day ngs-7 superb colored plates ables and flowers. ble distribution, we make the following liberal ofert npty Envelope ounts as Cash te where this advertisement was seen and who s), we will mail the catalogue, and 2ls0 send fro& t" Henderson" Collection of seeds, contain dived Sweet Peasr; Giant Fancy Pansies, mnixed; endeian't Newa Tenr Lettuce; Early Ruby iemnates ; in acoupon envelope, which, when emptied 4 as a 25-cent -h payment on any order THEY ALL WANT IT! Have you seen the "Imp Bottle?" Very perplexing trick, but easy when you know how. We'll tell you how and send sample for 10 cents. Patent Egg Separa 'or. Every H o u se old, Hotel, Restau raut, Bakery, Drug Store, in fact an y lace where eggs are sed needs one or more. Instantly separates Folk and white, not a particle of the latter remaining i n t h e Separator. Does not reak yolk. M ad e 7rom solid piece of metal. Always bright d ready for use. Sample 10 cents. KANCY SUPPLY CO., Box 215, Washingito, D. C. Agents wanted for these and other goods Write for circulars and terms. H00L GARDENS. menway. 1 manual of school gardening for both equate work of the sort in this country. (the author is an authority and director Make a Garden; Tweg.y-One Lessons iograpy; Lessons in Greenhouse Work; g; Lessons in Budding. 1ustrations, 28. ty,-Page & Co., I am able for the present OFFER. ionths, and Ho'w to Make ScAool th for $1.00.... .. .. .. illustrated, and is the finest magazine cf advantage of this special offer, orders fr, Hartford, Connecticnt. . idrawn at any time. !F TO LIV E eason Why BODY that they can. The place to Home, and :he year and tells you rden Around It In It Entertain In It How to Enjoy Life In It nent s of the magazine are -ome flints to Homemakers Home Home Etiquette the Home Home Cheer the Home LEMBER aste pot. There's good "grey matter" L sympathy in every line of it. There's on sense all through it. It don't under illion a year, but it does tell you how Sso many millions live on who don't the magazine costs Year--Thatfs All d suggestions abouthlfe and health and VIAKER MAGAZINE, ing. CHICAGO.