Growers typically over-plant somewhat to assure ample supply, regardless of weather. This is not entirely unselfish, since markets once sacrificed are regained with difficulty. Larger concerns generally hedge against the weather by growing their seeds in several locations; it is unlikely that disaster will strike everywhere in any given year. Many concerns produce in the West under irrigation, where a crop failure is hard to imagine. Cropping under irrigation in the and region is the next surest thing to a controlled greenhouse environment.

A seedsman may risk thousands of dollars and years of precious time on the shape of a carrot or the shade of a petunia only to see public taste change or a market disappear by the time the variety is ready. The breeding work of years may vanish in minutes, as when almost the whole supply of new bush sweetpeas burned in the field. A few successes must then bear the overhead of many failures.

Seldom is an entire genetic stock risked on any one planting or in any one year. This valuable germ plasm, the real wealth of the industry, is more likely stored in fireproof vaults, and only the necessary seed stock is withdrawn periodically. Thus, should there be disaster in the field, the genetic line is not lost only the production of that year. Adequate supplies of quality seeds thus are maintained year after year.

ANOTHER responsibility has to do with marketing.

Some concerns may grow the seed they sell. Some independent growers take their chances on the open market. Growers often combine as a cooperative, sharing the expected market and accepting the average price that cooperative marketing may bring. The greater technical service that a cooperative can muster may be of benefit to all participants.

Items in limited markets, such as seeds of garden vegetables and flowers, commonly are grown under contract. The risks are apparent, when, for example, contracts for seed of a biennial such as carrot must be made 2 years before delivery, with no idea of the markets ahead or possible change in public taste.

No matter what the production scheme, production is still at the caprice of the weather, and yields are never sure. The smaller specialty markets are especially risky, because they are generally not very extensible; too great production can be as disastrous for profits as too little.

The seed industry has always been responsive to the consumers' needs. When lettuce growers wanted changes in size of head to satisfy the buyer's wishes or needed disease-resistant selections for less risky production, breeders in the industry responded with the improved types. Even such details as the curve of a bean or the color of its pod, comparative abundance of carrot tops and roots, and preferences as to color and shape in many crops have received quick attention. Earliness for the market and shipping or storage qualities are vital to the marketing of perishable products. Seedsmen have been alert to meet demand and have generally been able to satisfy any reasonable requirement.

Through the years, production of seed has shifted westward. Cleaning of seed also moved. There is no profit in shipping debris from fields in the West to plants in the Midwest for cleaning out and discarding there. No doubt commerce in seeds will continue in the direction of products refined at the source and marketed as standard units of quality merchandise rather than bulk poundage that must be repeatedly rehandled.

Standards have risen accordingly, so that any reliable firm would decline to market seeds containing appreciable amounts of harmful weeds or nonviable seeds. State and Federal seed laws and testing of samples back up the producers. Thus, the responsibility of industry is everywhere assured for mechanical purity and proper labeling to indicate germination and content of weeds.

A TREND toward bigness is noticeable among seedhouses, although nowhere are there the giant corporations of heavy industry.

Improvement of resources through continued expansion and growth affords greater opportunities in research and merchandising. The intimately supervised family operation of the past is becoming a producing, distributing, and marketing enterprise that has an efficient sales force, widespread warehousing of adequate supplies, and professional staffs experienced in shipping and selling.

The industry, however, can never separate itself from its agricultural heritage or from the seasonal aspects of its operations.

The seed industry thus generally parallels agriculture, in which bigger, professionally managed farm operations account for more and more of the production and reap the advantages of capacity use of equipment and the discounts of quantity buying. The passing of personal service from local seed-stores may be regretted, but the trend that brought the supermarket is touching sales of seeds.

The industry learns more each year about handling, storage, and testing of seeds. Thus it discharges its responsibility for carrying quality products all the way to the consumer. Touchy items, such as asters, onions, and parsnips, are packaged in special foils, plastics, or controlled-humidity cans. That quality will be stressed increasingly in the sale of seeds seems assured, as homeowners and agricultural managers become more aware of values.

Many seedhouses have developed their own full line of products and provide the necessary popular information to see that these are used correctly. No longer are chemical names and fertilizer formulas obscure to the seeds-man, as he strives to sell not just seeds but a crop.

The industry constantly seeks adapted varieties for climatic conditions. Research departments retain bloodlines of regional significance that grandfather never dreamed existed. They maintain liaison with local experts, so that the best possible advice for the area in which the seeds are marketed can accompany the seed. Improved instructions on sowing and crop needs may result in as much progress as has the creation of the improved varieties themselves.

JOHN F. SCHIFFMAN is vice president of the Hygrade Seed Co., Fredonia, N.Y. He has been active in the American Seed Trade Association, having served as chairman of the wholesale packet division and as such was a member of its board of directors.

ROBERT W. SCHERY is director of the Lawn Institute. He has been a member of the teaching and research staff of Washington University, senior technician for the Rubber Development Corp., lecturer at the University of Wisconsin, and botanist for chemical and seed companies.