Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1872-01-25
Farm and Household.
importance ofFreq q en-
Change of Seed.

1t has long been observed by intelli-
gent farmers that seeds or plants pro-
cured from distant places, within the
same collateral parallels of latitude, ap-
pear to grow with more strength or vi
gor in their new stations than when
kept and cultivated in their native plac-
es. On this fact all the rules for a
change of seed, or of one species OF
plants TOR another of the same genus,
are founded. A change of seed is al
most always pra tically safe and emf
nently beneficial. A change of seeds, sets.
or plants from one description of soil
to another, or from valley to mountain,
or rtce uersd, seems TO possess arenova-
ting influence on the crops. 1t is OH
this principle that the practice of rota-
ton of crops is based. Plants appear
to become tired of an old station, eX-
cept aquatic plants, which are constant
ly receiving new elements of nutrition
from fresh supplies of water.
Land plants, as trees for instance, oc-
cupy the same spot for ages, but they
at last decay from sheer decrepitude.
The lateral extension of the roots
the lateral runners or offsets
with which many of them are furnish
ed, some above ground, as the straw
berry, Others under ground, las the couch
grass, thistle, ect.,-shows that plants,
like animals, require change of pasture
as well as change of air.-Every one
well acquainted with the growth of
plants knows that they require a fire.
quent change of soil, though but few
consider that change :of air Is also
beneficial. 1t is well known that some
plants thrive much better in one locali-
ty than in another. There ARE many
plants that never thrive or scarcely live
in the smoky atmosphere of London,
but when removed to distance of 20 or
30 miles from that city, grow luxuri-
antly.
The Belgian farmers raise excellent
crops of cereal, roots, grasses etc., and,
they are very particular in the selection
of seed, in procuring it from foreign
country, if possible, and in sleeping it
in liquid manure before sowing. In
the north of Ireland where fax is grown
extensively, the farmers prefer seed
brought from Russia or Holland to that
grown by themselves, as they find the
change very beneficial. The finest bull
bous and tuberous-rooted Towering
plants are annually imported into Eng
land, the United States, etc., from Hol-
land and Germany, and the change is
very beneficial for two or three years.
Forest-tree seeds obtained from the
Black Forest of Germany, or from the
mountains of the Tyrol germinate in
other parts of Europe with much great
er vigor than those of home growth.
The genuineness and sound condition
of agricultural seeds depend very much
upon the care bestowed by the scotsman
in the selection of his stock, and also on
the character ofthe growers he employs.
Foreign agricultural seeds are some
times damaged by kiln-drying, or ad-
mixture with deadened seeds of some
cheap kind. Rape-seed is sometimes
deadened by kiln-drying, and then mix
ed with turnip or cabbage seed, to which
it bears a close resemblance. In i'm
porting seeds from a foreign country,
great caution is necessary in order to
prevent imposition.