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About Lake County examiner. (Lakeview, Lake County, Or.) 1880-1915 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 22, 1906)
B ... l v II' -r- ami AMERICAN SEED GROWING Cheap Seeds the Most Expensive : 'van iViiH(i. , vr Broadlv speaking, the growing of farm and garden socds may be considered the most important of agricultural indus tries, for unless the quality of the seed is maintained, the succeeding crop is greatly diminihcd in volume and deter iorated in quality, so that if applied to the country as a whole, the ks 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 lie buys, en an average, double the amount of seeds lie did ten years ago, he has not, in even- instance, reached the point where he recognizes that the greatest economy lies in getting the best tnd patronizing only those houses whose reputation forbids them to sell poor and adulterated seeds." Seeds Apt to Retroerade. The deterioration in many seeds is vers' marked, and large secdmcn go to j-rclit 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 of seeds on any one farm cr in any one locality, however favored. The soil and climate which may be the best adapted for producing cr.e kind of seed may result only in a cry inferior seed from some ether kind' GtY tLLIOTT 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 foolislu This can be said of many different cheerfully votes against the measure and kinds of seed. Or suppose lie 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 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 seeus 10 ins entire list of voters, he cheap late cabbage or radish seeds, pre viously killed (.so that they will not conic untrue to name), and unless the buyer is particularly observant it may never occur to him that he has been buncoed. Tricks of Some Dealers. 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, vndcr a label of some new or high priced variety. 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, bull another practice which the reputable seedsmen will not counten ance is to sell seeds which may be true j iii name anu mi!i win utso ti Hunan, ; 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 seme years attained a country-wide fame through their sweetness and fine flavor. Thev were shinned all over the United States. Then came a great demand for instead votes for an appropriation of ocr a quarter of a million of dollar a year for free garden and (lower seeds. If somebody would lutrothuv a Mil, iven with this big appropriation, but hihvI- fying that the Secretary of Agriculture (of an ordinary living room is suitable if should expend the money in procuring care is taken to set the apparatus near a and distributing only such seeds and (Move at night. The basin may be left purchase In cpen market samples of seeds of grazing and forage plants, test the same and publish the names of per sons selling adulterated seeds. So extensive is the seed business In the Cuited States that many seedmen go to an enormous expense in publishing each year catalogues giving the many aMctics ottered tor &ulc by them. Home Tests of Seed. The IVpartment of Agriculture In or- ler to aid farmers to determine lor themselves without much trouble the germinating qualities of seeds purchased by them, has issued a number of bulle tins upon the subject. A very simple apparatus for sprouting seeds is lccnh- to in (lie mi i Kt u. it consists ot a shal low tin basin or one of granite ware. The bottom of the basin is covered with water and a mull tlat bottom of porous i lay is placed inside. The seeds after having been soaked are laid between two layers of moist blotting paper or llanuel cloth. A pane of glass covers the dish, which is to be kept in a tempera ture of about 70 degrees. The atmosphere ARC THE BEST THAT CAN BK CROWN RIIRPFFS SEEDS War J MwLW bl hMI If ytmwnltliclmluciilvrK't,lrni,wfl'l iU wr you houl.t rrmt BURPEE'S FARM ANNUAL FOR 1 Q08.- wll known mlh"U.llnir American beod CntltKU." 11 UnmlWxl FREE to all. ltrttrr nd ytmr ,t,trc TO-DAY. W. ATt.KK HIIM.'KK A to., I'll 1 1. A 1)1 I. I'll I A. m OW TO BUILD AN Jfcrt!' vpss:; INCUBATOR nrtMfcii.F 1, ana Rhowlnit how to luillil jrntir own niwhlni ! mi 11. M.i flnr Ilium ri I'm li of Inoutmlor Ami linnnliT Hiiii III flit im ml. Anvmm vmn II.' I v. 11 sv . :- ' - '1 I I 17 . : -vj' T v .u'rii" -i.- 111 11 r A MOST VALUABLE BOOK on fertilisers and how tonne them, entitled "Foon Foa l't.ANis,M is bring distributed by U10 Kitruto l'lopagiiiida, New York. A pott ennt n-tth four ..n will Kluatc Propacutl Asikrsoa BalUlsf , New Vork 40 BULBS, 25 Cents. F'f In nrotil of iloora irnmlpif (llitvtnla, ItVtffinia, lni, 1 11 "ririiiri, nniiti(B, j'inoiiiii, ntjiti, rr Nttri-lssiitL Atlhim. rtiimnma. Tinhh. Ktf imim4 nr nilit, wilt nl this nmirnifWit noHfiitn of tmll, an! Hi lit m tiriiimti ft flit MTTy tTT C7 nilii4tlin if fl-'wr Mi, w-i rioiir, r lb EZi n1fr to 1itT.iii'1 twurn to nfi ihr m iiitlftt f"t ilitiltig. WOODLAWN NURSERY, KAIOIH, UAii WRWMl limits (ill and instructive horticultural mMicatun ol tne iny 186 pages 700 engravings 7 superD coioreu piaies duotone plates 01 vcgciamcs tnu iiowcrs. A Is the title of Our New Catalogue for 1 vw tne mmi neuim- T (!? U.U tiul.fX Hi !(( I-..HU illMfllHitlo, Mlt Ih Ull UlaMlaawl Every Empty Envelope Counts as Cash T rry nut h will ioi Kn IKI ,tnlimnl u tn tni mk tntlotn 1o Ccnla (In tiimp.l, will mail IK iuaifi i, n iaatii4 lr ol chrg, oui nmwi (-Cnt lUmlctsua "CnlUitlon ol mji, coni.i- on pa.kft a bl ." u.l . (.nil mmi4l C4nr I'blfiM ji'ltn, J; HJrtt't Stvf I i J lf. A; Xf T.M'V ami USm 1 iff t..i'ii In coup.innvrlop. Mih. hinpii4 nd MiuintJ, will b H.criitJ mm m J3-nl - h pamat u mf wit mounung 10 9 i.uotna upwaiit. 7ml mmammw k A FulJ cf Seed StlD LETTUCE AND ONIONS IN HEAD Conrt7 A. J. Plct:rs, Depirtmcat of Mrri-ilture. of plant. So that sec!?, as they are handled by the Lig setd.-rr.tn, are gath ered in by them from all parts of the country from Maine to California. In the latter state some cf the vastest seed fields cf 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 cf millions cf dollars. In the Olden Times. Of course, in the early days each farmer saved his own seed ; possibly he exchanged seeds with cne 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 originator of the present big seed house. This was before tlio Ilevolutionary war, on a small farm, now included in the city of Philadelphia. It is estimated that over 250,000 acres, including land in probably every state in the Union, are now devoted solely to growing seed crops, and some of the largest growers plant annually as high as 2,000 acres. Cet Good Clover Seed. Tho ndvnntngft of tsocurlng trood ger minating nw!d Is manifest Take for instance clover seed which is sown on wheat-stubble in the sunnir. It is al ways possible to secure it at SO cents or $1.00 per bushel below the market price quoted by the reputable seedsmen. What is the result of using such seed? It must be considered a foregone con clusion that such seed is poor, worth even less than the reduced price at which it is offered. The land has been prepared for pasture or hay, some of the fertilizer used on the wheat 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. I Jo buys cneap ueea; w, w, tu or 60 per cent, of it is an adulteration of seed which has been killed or is old dead or weak clover seed. 1 he re mainder is pood, fresh seed. If he buys this seed, likely putting off purchase until the eleventh hour, and uses it without testing its germinating qual ities, he may be lucky if he gets half a stand. In other words, half his land 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 Rocky 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 ot'goo(i advice to consider them as such plants as mav be of real value to the fanner in a Congressional district, new and improved varieties, even though only one package cmild be sent out where now a score or two are sent, the expenditure would be defensible. 1 hi would be building up 'our agriculture. and there would be cases where the entire agricultural output would be changed, greatly to the advantage of the farm. The Secretary is, in fact. employing his idea, as far as he is left any discretion in the matter of seed distribution. He is allowed by CongreSN a small appropriation 01 mis iree seea money, and where his explorers in the old countries of the world have brought in new plants and seeds which it is be- icvcd will be an improvement on those already grown by American farmers, he sends 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 distribution should be stopped, and the work of supplying the ordinary farm and garden seeds, the results of which are l-nown to everybody, should be left to the regular secdmcn. The seed business of the United States is one of great magnitude. While there are, cf course, unscrupulous and fake seed houses who do not hesitate to adulterate the seeds they supply, the re putable firniH take gn-at rare in woing tbnt their sci-ds urt' not only fr -sli, with good germinating powers, but true to name. The old-fashioned way was for each grower to save his own feed, but in many of our principal crops it is found that the feeds grown in certain lo calities produce heavier yields, and while if the planting is done a little out of the original habitat of the plant the first crop may not appreciably deteriorate the second year, the crop from that seed will show a marked falling off in yield. It is for this reason that some of the wisest farmers and planters send regu larly considerable distances for seed. The twod catalogues always carry a number of pages of novelties and new varieties which are described in an ex tremely attractive form. It is well enough to try these novelties, but it is packages were armuaHy 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 abolishing what has been termed by more than one and have the main crr.p to fall back upon from the titandard or well-tried varieties which have stood the test of years. An examination of many of the seeds of common vegetable and forage re veals the fact that an immense amount of poor seed is sold to American farm 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 crop. Such seed is dear at any price, and is withal one of the principal source of the hosts of bad weeds which are to be seen upon many farms. For the last few years there has been a constantly increasing outcry against Ik1"" - ' ' " '' l uip 'u( ,y. uxu a TU 1 Ifl nSl C- vY :jtJ.t frill iJrn ', A I partly open from time to time to admit the exchange of air and gases, using a good-sized dish with small saucer and renewing the water occasionally. Sev eral kinds (if seed may be tested at once at a trilling cost. The I'epartment cau tions the far. , against extremes of temperature and cxccsjivc moisture dur ing the experiments. In some of the larger and more reliable seed house, of this country there is a well-equipped and appointed incubator room in which lests lire Hindi' by the Kevdineli In order to nseertaln whether or Hot the seeds will really grow. This Is done with every lot of seed that comes in the warehouse and before distribu tion through the country. Results of A HUNDKLD ACWE CADISH HELD. these growths are recorded in a book and kept for re.ufy reference in the event of complaints. The busiest times in the American seed warehouse is from November to March, and often April, when enormous quantities of seeds and bulbs pass through the buildings first in large sacks and later in smaller pack ages by mail and express on their way to the progressive American agricul turist Congressman the free seed farce, and speeches have been made annually de riding the practice, showing that it is unnecessary and unprofitable and a wate of public money j yet when It comes to voting for a measure which AN OCEAN OP SWEET PEAS, Flower Seed Crowing is an Extensive Industry. the seeds sold by unscrupulous dealers and with it a demand tor legislation. Congress and a few states have passed laws regulating the trude In seeds. The Secretary of Agriculture . under an Ac of Congress has authority to, and doc, Ic&erviu Strict Sileuee, In Korea tho women, on their wed ding day, will not open their mouths to peak, 110 matter what the tempta tion or provocation. Sometimes this Bllence Is continued through the Brut week of married life. Although no eueh cuHtom exlHts In the WeBtern world, extraordinary caues ar3 not wanting. In the early forties a New York lady undertook, for a wager of $150, to remain mute during the month of her married life. Her new-made h-sband, who, natur ally, was not In the secret, was so much incensed at his bride's behavior, that he left her before her tasK was com pleted, only to return later when ap prised of the r.;al reason for this un Iiutural silence. On one anniversary of their wedding day a Brussels couple quarrelled so bitterly that the wife, in a passion, vowed that her husband should never again hear the sound of her voice. She would there and then have left the house, but her now penitent husband Implored her not to desert him. To that extent only did his entreaties pre vail, for she kept the letter of her oath and never In her spouse's presence did she unloose her tongue. An Austrian woman, whose husband was In hiding from the authorities. In advertently betrayed his whereabouts to a neighbor, who was secretly in the pay of the police. As a result, he was taken, and received a term of Imprison ment. So much did his wife take to heart this misfortune, which had been brought about by her gossip, that she resolved for the remainder of her life to remain mute. She would not make an exception even In her husband's favor, for, although she received him on his release with the utmost affec tion, Bhe maintained an obdurate silence till her death, three years later. FAT PEOPLE I Will Send Ton a Trial Treatment Free I mil renlnr fmir tf hi Tr m ls4 Wewfc rw1 foitti 111 hMllh into rot-uet tWUh, nfi fcaJ aJuggihaM lntk titily. nt rl Utt f!iticf fMlltMMatM iffi--st.ia -f 'ta!u4ii)g tiJilr diMU rJ ftaaiUttUI)n h 4irttfnl dittnf vt tt' n, SVO Klaftog, b nlilg tlrut of (' jng fill rwio lha tuti i h. I u a k-b )! at4 !- taltal lu lit lutcw ful ie-tMit trf au ptlliMa f lift tul ctanlilUaJlt tt (m-Wi! tialhl ttattb Uia l.ait And Oftbla yuu t ltrlh J"" '? !. hla.ltrt Mil flat fclpa. ft"Mimtil if Mritna ) thai (talent au baka mf UUun and la4iB -i-re t alM mrm mf MlWala. I aWJala, pa-araaia aBltWaatlwa m varf cM Writ fc-4r fur tt tfial lrMUiinl I will ) anl ye f ra my ssaw ba4 otHHatlj ll will i'a ft dUit4 uuUim ol mf baliiMfl; II Hll anl ym ti. 44taa MtVNHV V. IIKAIroH( U. !. 171 UrUttri UUm tu m tM urn, lrk 1.1. THEY ALL WANT IT! llr yrni -a Ih. "Imp BoMki"" Vrry irr(ilrttt Irlck, hut raiy whrn vuu Inn how. We'll l-ll vuu tin .nil rui SNittttl. for lilniiii. f'ntrnt V.gg Brpf. lor. I'.vrt y II n u r IkiIiI, II lcl. Kralnu. rniit, llakrry, I'mik SO.ir, III li I 11 11 y I I r whrrr rnx iinl lacrU. uue or 111 01 c. Jn.tantly arparalr yiilk anil wltltr, lint pnltlilr ol llic lallrr triuniillny In I ll . Mrpnrator. Ihtrm not hirnk yolk. Made from aoltif pin of lui-iul. 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