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[GWL]: Thompson and Morgan and negative good will
In the first decade of my gardening experience, I frequently bought T&M
seeds. Like many beginners, I was seduced by their glossy full-color
catalog, and the fact that they seemed to carry so many varieties no one
else had.
I soon found that T&M put less seed in a package and charged more per
package than just about anybody else. So I took to buying only the rare
stuff from T&M -- stuff for which they were the unique source. Then, as
I became yet more experienced, I discovered that about the only thing
unique about many of T&M's unique items was their name. It may be legal
to use a new name for something widely known under another name, but
legal or not, I consider it deceptive. When I paid a high price for
something I already had and didn't want, I felt ripped off. I was
ripped off not just for the money, but the space and work of growing and
trialing something I had already grown and trialed.
The final straw was a package of T&M Sea Kale seed that cost about $3 or
$4. It contained 17 little capsules. I germinated them on paper
towels, as I do with all suspect seed, which included, by then, all T&M
seed. (That way I could know for sure if the seed was bad.) One capsule
germinated, but died promptly thereafter. When I broke open the rest, I
found that 12 of the capsules were empty -- that is, they didn't
germinate because they contained no seed. The other four capsules
contained a seed but didn't germinate.
When I revised the section in my plant-breeding book on seed sources, it
was with great satisfaction that I eliminated T&M from the listing.
I also don't use T&M in the source list for magazine articles. However,
magazines "redo" the source list, often with an eye towards their own
advertisers, and without consulting the author. I've had inaccuracies
happen in the source lists because of editorial additions. For example,
a seed company I didn't list will be added as a source when I know their
line of the variety in question is inferior or crossed-up or is actually
something entirely different under an identical name. In the future I
hope to establish more input into what goes into that "source" section.
Live and learn.
Carol Deppe
Author of BREED YOUR OWN VEGETABLE VARIETIES: THE GARDENER'S AND
FARMER'S GUIDE TO PLANT BREEDING AND SEED SAVING (See table of contents,
excerpts, & reviews at http://www.chelseagreen.com.)
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