On 30/9/07 10:03, in article , "Stewart Robert
Hinsley" wrote:

In message , Sacha
writes
snip

If they bought seeds off the same shelves - or the virtual shelves -
available to the ordinary gardener, then the results were typical, surely?
The point of the testing is simply to do the testing. I would think Which
considers that to be their only brief. After that consumers can make up
their own minds as to whether to buy seeds from x, y or z, or whether to mix
them up from a, b and c. What the test has shown is that people buying
seeds from 15 different sources may well find that the seed is dead and
then, if they have a poor germination rate they're better informed to make a
fuss about it with the seedsmen.

One question about the viability of seed bought in retail outlets would
be whether the variation is due to the seed merchant, or to the retail
outlets.

That's why several of us are saying it would be useful to know if the
various seedsmen are supplied by the same source. We're waiting to see what
turns up in the trade press and of course, whether the various seedsmen have
any comments to make in the national media.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'