American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1874-10-31

the seed with a scoop from one end of a
barn floor to the other Il few times. The
seed that flies the farthest is the heaviest
and best grain Grass seed may be
cleaned by careful sitting and blowing,
and flax seed may be cleaned perfectly
in the same way.
Where the seeds of vegetables are to
be raised the varieties should be planted
ut such distances apart that there is no
possibility of their mixing by cross
| fertilization AS they begin to run to
, seed the lateral branches may be trimmed
| off if extra seed is required. At all
events, if the seed from the leader he
saved separately it Will be found prefer
able to the rest Florists are exceeding
1y careful in this respect when extra size
and bloom are expected. If bicnnials,
rs bccts, turnips, carrots, etc, are to be
set out for seed next spring the roots
should be selected ut gathering time
and saved in sand until wanted. In
planting cabbage for seed always plant
whole heads with the rsot and select TO:
this purpose none but the largest hard
heads. Then proceed as heretofore di-
rccted in pruning for extra seed.
Select at digging time the smootheSt
and faircst potatoes for planting and be
fore winter sets in expose them thorough
ly to the light, even to the extent that
they become somewhat discolored. Then
keep them in Il dry place until wanted
for planting, and for the sced-crop do not
cut the pieces too small. Allow ample
sized pieces for the sustenance of the
germ until it is able to support itself on
its own roots. The end upon which the
most eyes are, or the seed end as it is
called, if planted by itself for Il series
of years will produce Il crop earlier than
eyes from the end next the stem. BY
the careful selection of tubcrs year by
year from which seed is to be raised il
very material improvement of the aver
age quality, quantity and early maturity
of the yield may be made.
When gathering corn, it is very easy,
when stripping the husks, if the corn
strikes you as being smooth, of good
color and sound, to break it with the
husk adhering, and, in shoveling from
the wagon sort the reserved ears, to be
afterward re-sorted and traced up for
seed. By this means, in all the great
corn zone where the corn ripens perfect
ly, there need be no difficulty about bad
seed and the average yield, always with
good cultivation, may be very largely
increased.
The Western RurnI believes that the
time spent in this direction will be bet
ter spent than in any other one direction.
Nevertheless, it will matter bat little
how good the seed may be if improved
cultivation be not given as well. 1t is
as impossible to improve our cereal crop
without high cultivation as it would be
to improve our horses, cattle, sheep and
hogs or poultry without extra care and
feed With Indifferent cultivation i'm
provement may be made by careful Sc
lection of seed, but good cultivation and
good seed are SO nearly allied that one
naturally follows the other as sunshine
follows the shade. In this connection
would follow extra selection, that is, the
selection of individual plants to be
marked for seed from which to build a
still higher type; but enough has been
said for the Western Rurat.