Our Laws That Pertain to Seeds

S. F. ROLLIN AND FREDERICK A. JOHNSTON.

THE 13ASIC purpose of the seed laws in the United States is to insure that seed is labeled truthfully.

It is possible for seed dealers legally to sell low-quality but correctly labeled seeds. The purchaser therefore should read and understand the information on the label, which must be attached to the container, to determine whether he wants to buy it.

The laws are not devised solely for the protection of farmers, gardeners, and homeowners. They are designed also for the protection of seedsmen.

Seeds move from one dealer to another in the marketing process, particularly from areas of production to areas of use. Every handler of seeds needs the protection afforded by law.

Homeowners who buy packets of vegetable seeds seldom find any representation as to the percentage of germination. When vegetable seeds are above a certain specified standard in germination, most States do not require that the packet show the actual percentage of germination. Only vegetable seeds that are below the specified standard established for germination must be labeled to show the percentage of germination, the date of the germination test, and the words, "Below Standard."

Connecticut in 1821 passed a law prohibiting the sale of grass seed containing Canada thistle and other weeds. Michigan in 1871 prohibited the sale of seeds containing Canada thistle and milkweed. Illinois, California, Missouri, and Nebraska between 1867 and 1895 legislated against seed containing Canada thistle. The two earliest vegetable seed laws were adopted by Florida in 1889 and by California in 1891. By 1941, all 48 States had seed laws.

The Congress in 1904 appropriated money to the Department of Agriculture to obtain in the open market samples of seeds of grass, clover, or alfalfa to be tested, and directed the Secretary that if any such seeds were found to be adulterated or misbranded or if any seeds of Canada bluegrass were sold under any other name than Canada bluegrass, the results of the tests should be published, together with the names of the persons by whom the seeds were offered for sale.

Between 1904 and 1919, the Department examined approximately 15 thousand samples of commercial seeds of alfalfa, Kentucky bluegrass, orchardgrass, red clover, meadow fescue, smooth brome, hairy vetch, and red-top and found an average of about 20 percent of the samples adulterated with, or consisting of, other less desirable kinds of seeds, or containing the seeds of dodder, a noxious weed.

As a result of the testing of commercial seed samples in domestic commerce and samples submitted to the Department of Agriculture by the U.S. Customs Service between 1904 and 1912, the Congress passed the Seed Importation Act of 1912. This act restricted the importation of seeds of the principal forage plants on the basis of content of weed seeds and low purity. The act was amended in 1916 by adding a requirement as to live seed.

The Seed Importation Act was amended in 1926 to require that all imported seeds of alfalfa and red clover be colored to indicate the degree of adaptability. It is estimated that the requirement saved American farmers more than 5 million dollars between 1926 and 1938.

The act was further amended in 1926 to prohibit the shipment in interstate commerce of any falsely and fraudulently labeled seeds. Because of the seizure provisions in this amendment,the act was effective in helping States cope with interstate shipments of misbranded seeds.

The criminal provision of the act, as applied to interstate shipments, however, proved ineffective because of the lack of specific labeling requirements and the necessity for proving that the false labeling or false advertising was done knowingly.

A new Federal Seed Act was enacted in 1939. It required detailed labeling of seeds in interstate commerce, did not require proof of intent, and extended the scope of the act as it pertained to imported seeds.

THE RECOMMENDED uniform State seed law has contributed to the uniformity that exists in seed laws among the States and the Federal Seed Act. It is changed periodically by a joint committee representing various interested organizations. This enables seed officials who desire to revise their State seed laws to have an up-to-date guide in recommending the form and wording of revisions that they feel are desirable to promote uniformity.

THE FEDERAL and State laws contain somewhat similar requirements. If seed is labeled to comply with the Federal Seed Act and is shipped in interstate commerce, it will normally comply with the labeling requirements of the State into which it is shipped.

The laws generally require that the label attached to the container of agricultural seeds show the percentage of pure seed, percentage of weed seeds, percentage of other crop seeds, percentage of inert matter, percentage of germination, percentage of hard seeds, if any, the date of the germination test, and the name and address of the shipper, or seller, or person who labeled the seeds.

The label also is required to show the names and rates of occurrence of seeds of noxious weeds recognized by the laws and regulations of the State in which the seed is being sold or into which the seed is shipped.

Most States prohibit the sale of seeds containing seeds of certain noxious weeds or limit the number permitted in seed sold, even if the seed is correctly labeled to indicate their presence.

Mixtures of agricultural seeds must be labeled to show the percentage of each kind of seed present in the mixture to the extent of 5 percent or more.

Some States require agricultural seeds to be labeled as to kind and variety, but most State laws require labeling only as to the kind of seed.

A TRADEMARK brand is a term by which goods may be distinguished as coming from a certain source. It is intended to identify the manufacturer or distributor not the product itself. A trademark is private property and may be used only by the owner or with the owner's permission. When a trademark is made a name of a variety, it is no longer protected as a trademark. Saying that it is still a trademark does not make it one. If the owner of a trademark uses it as a variety name or part of a variety name, he, in effect, loses the protection given trademarks and automatically permits other persons to use it as the name of the variety. If a "trademark" is used to identify genetic makeup instead of source, it is a variety name and not a trademark.

A variety name cannot be a valid trademark. Under the Federal Seed Act, the originator of a new variety has a right to name that variety. If the variety can be reproduced from seed, it may be produced and sold by anyone. Under the Federal Seed Act, the name that is given the variety by its originator must be used. This is true even though the name is a privately owned trademark.

THE PATENT LAWS relating to plants provide for the granting of a patent to anyone who has invented or discovered and asexually reproduced any distinct and new variety of plant, other than a tuber-propagated plant.

Asexually propagated plants are those that are reproduced by means other than from seeds, such as by rooting of cuttings by layering, budding, and grafting.

The applicant for a patent on a particular plant variety must have done something to create or produce it, and it must be distinct and new. A plant found by a person is not considered patentable.

LAWS REGULATE FARMERS and producers of seed as well as seed dealers and merchants.

Certain features in most of the State laws and in the Federal Seed Act deal specifically with the responsibilities of farmer-producers of seed.

One is that a dealer who buys from a farmer seed indistinguishable as to variety will be held responsible for any misrepresentation as to variety unless the dealer obtains from the farmer a grower's declaration as to variety. If the farmer signs such a declaration, he assumes the responsibility for the representation whether he sells the seed to a dealer in another State or whether it is sold to a local dealer and the seed is expected to move in interstate commerce. The signing of a grower's declaration without a sound basis for doing so may mean that seed is falsely labeled. Farmers should recognize their responsibility when they sign such declarations.

Provisions in most State laws and in the Federal Seed Act exempt a farmer from having to comply with the labeling requirements for seeds that he sells on his own premises and does not advertise for sale. Some State laws further provide that such seed may not contain prohibited seeds of noxious weeds. To this extent, a farmer may sell seed to his neighbor. More and more people think that such sales should be controlled more strictly, because homegrown seeds and seeds sold by farmer to farmer in the same locality without labeling generally are the poorest seeds sown by farmers.

Most laws exempt from the labeling requirements seeds intended for processing. Seeds moved from the farm to a seed-processing plant need not be labeled to show the detailed information required for processed seed. In interstate commerce, such seed must be labeled as "seed for processing." The seed must actually be intended for processing and should not be labeled In this manner to escape the responsibility established for labeling processed seeds under the seed laws.

Another section of the laws deals with the use of a disclaimer or non-warranty clause on a label. These disclaimers are forbidden under some State seed laws. Under others, they are recognized if they do not disclaim responsibility for the information required to be on the label under the labeling laws. In other words, the seller can disclaim responsibility for the crop that is produced, but not for the percentage of germination or the variety or the purity percentages as labeled.

Farmers or purchasers cannot collect damages through the State seed laws or through the Federal Seed Act. Such damages must, as a last resort, be collected through a separate civil action filed by the buyer against the seller of seeds. The laws provide only for legal action against the seed (seizure) or against the person violating the seed laws (prosecution).

Labeling of treated seed to indicate that it is treated is one other significant feature. Farmer-producers of seeds should recognize that unused treated seed should not be mixed with and sold as part of the seeds produced the following season. Particularly, it should not be sold with a grain crop delivered to an elevator. Such treated seed has caused difficulty in the grain industry. Carloads of grain have been seized and condemned by the Food and Drug Administration because of the presence of treated seeds in the grain. The farmer-grower should take the necessary precautions in handling seed treated with highly toxic materials and should not use leftover seed treated with these materials for feed for any animals on the farm.