Melville Fuller

“ The words 'seeds' and 'vegetables' are words of common speech, and there is no room here for the contention that they had acquired a special signification by usage or had a scientific, different from the popular, meaning. Whether the articles were properly classified as vegetables was a matter for the court to decide. The interpretation of words of common speech is within the judicial knowledge and matter of law. ”

“ But, as the circuit judge well said, the testimony did not deal in the commercial designation of the article or what it was called in trade and commerce, but only tended to show how the witnesses though it should be classified. It is true that one of the plaintiffs stated that, if a customer inquired for a certain kind of field bean, he would ask him whether he wanted the 'field pea bean,' or 'the seed of the field pea bean,' or 'the seed of the white medium bean,' or what kind of beans he wanted ”

“ The predominant use of lentils and beans is for food, and, as so used, they are commonly called 'vegetables,' although they may be regarded botanically as seeds, and may sometimes be used for seeding purposes. ”