At the third annual meeting of the American Seed Trade Association, held at Rochester, June 9th, loth, and nth, 1885, the subject of the free distribution of seeds by the government came up, and Mr. Vick made the remarkable statement that " I know of a firm that sold a quantity of beans to a dealer that he sold to the Government at about six dollars per bushel, the same stock the firm were about throwing away, as they were considered worthless. And I have heard of the European houses laughing many times of the sales they have made to our Government".

It is difficult to see any distinction between the morality of selling seeds known to be worthless, to the Government at high figures, or selling them to private individuals; and, if we had not Mr. Vick's positive statement that he " knew " the firm, we should have promptly resented the imputation as against any honorable member of the seed trade in our country; and we are the more surprised that this statement, and the further one in reference to European houses "many times cheating" - for it is nothing less - the American Government, did not elicit some expression of surprise from the members present. It seems to us that it is due to the respectable members of the seed trade, that more should be known of these transactions, and those either in this or the old world, who have no higher estimate of their moral obligations, marked for reference.