Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1874-02-13
GROWING AND SELECTING SEED
by A. NJ. FOSTER, OF CABOT.
Read before the Farmers Meeting Of thc
State Board of Agriculture, &C., at East
Montpelier, january =, 1874.

In growing English grain and hoed crops
good soil is desirable, thorough tillage neces.
sary and good seed indispensable 1t is not
little strange that a matter OF such vital
Importance as the quality Of the seed should
be so often neglected. Probably there is no
improvement connected with farm operations
that will pay 50 large profit for the time
expended as this. We can hardly estimate
the annual loss to the farmers of Vermont
in this direction.
will give single illustration. A gen.
tleman moved to Marshield aud brought
with him some seed wheat His neighbors
induced him to SOW bushel Of variety
they were raising. He sowed bushel Of
each variety side by side and upon the same
soil. At harvest one lot gave him FIVE bush.
els, the other fifteen, making difference of
twenty bushels per acre in quantity, with
probably corresponding difference in quail
ity.
The labor Of cultivatng and harvesting a
poor crop is just about the same as Of a
good one. At timo like this, when farm.
ing is so close business, we should look we'll
to the details, Any method not too expen.
sive that will increase our crops Is not be-
meath our notice. As We sow, 50 shall We
reap" ave do not gather grapes from
thoms nor figs from thistles." The truth of
this Is practically demonstrated upon every
farm in Vermont each year In other words,
the kind and quality OF the seed determines
the kind and quality of the produce
This matter is just as perfectly under tho
control Of the farmer as is the production Of
particular desirable characteristics in ami.
mails. do not mean the first trial will be
a success, but there will be an improvement,
exactly proportional to the care aud skill of
the person attempting it. Like produces
like" We accept this principle in the AMI.
NAL world let us 10 so in the vegetable
and we have safe guide.
But some one inquiries the cause of the
decrease per acre Of our annual products, and
the alarming increase Of foul weeds and in
sect enemies. lreply, The iniquities of the
fathers are visited upon their children"
Our day Of reckoning has come in this mat.
ter. If this is not satisfactory, since this
is day Of tea parties and centennial cele-
brations, 90 back with me hundred years
What do VIC find ? The soil was rich in
all the elements of plant food which was a
partial offset to the rude implements for Gull
tivation then IN use; but as the soil grew
less fertile, farm implements were improved
and now ones invented, thus preserving the
equilibrium. Bat how about the seed? 1t
is doubtless true that upon the introduction
Of new varieties Of farm products farmers
exercised much care in the raising and selec-
ton of seed. Indeed they we're under the
necessity Of growing it, as the seed business
as now developed was unknown. The grain
was threshed with fail and carefully fan.
ned or winnowed, thus securing better quail
ity Of grain than VIC get now. Upon the in.
PRODUCTION of the threshing mills a revolution
was wrought in grain-growing not favorable
to improvement in the quality of the seed.
First we get all the small and imperfect kerr
nels second, we thresh different kinds of
grain in the same barn, thereby getting them
mixed third, it was not well cleaned fourth
our fan.mills, for the most part, went out of
use and were allowed to run down and last,
but not least, our shiitess neighbor, il we
had one, was sure to send US his kind re-
CARDS in the shape Of cookie, India wheat or
something more lasting.
While | would not discourage the use of
labor saving machinery, would recommend
the plan Of top.threshing some of the best
grain for seed. Most farmers admit the
necessity Of more care in the selection of
seed, but their actions say "a little more
sleep, little more slumber," and spring
finds them dipping into the common bin
which contains a sample of almost every
thing but pure, clean seed.
A little observation aud reflection will
show US some Of the bad results of sowing
small and imperfect seed II lacks vitality,
makes a small feeble growth Of straw and
head, does not fill WE'LL is later in getting
ripe, in short, is in just the condition to in
yite diseases like rust, blast, or smut, while
repeated sowing only aggrayates the evil,
until we begin to talk about bad luck, un-
favorable seasons, ETC., and finally conclude
it has run out and we must change our seed,